What happened to the SAVE student loan plan?

SAVE was vacated by a federal court order on March 10, 2026, and separately terminated by statute in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. About 7 million enrolled borrowers were notified in mid-2026 to choose a new plan within about 90 days.

What is the RAP student loan plan?

The Repayment Assistance Plan, open since July 1, 2026, charges 1 to 10 percent of adjusted gross income, minus $50 a month per dependent, with a $10 minimum. Unpaid interest is waived, and any balance left after 30 years is forgiven. At $55,000 of income, the payment is $275.00 a month.

What is Income-Based Repayment in 2026?

IBR charges 10 percent of discretionary income for new borrowers and 15 percent for older borrowers, capped at the standard payment, with forgiveness after 20 or 25 years. At $55,000 of income for a single new borrower, the payment is $258.83 a month.

Which is cheaper, RAP or IBR?

It depends on income and household size. At $55,000 for a single borrower on a $30,000 loan, RAP costs $45,588.23 in total and IBR costs $47,460.54, so RAP is cheaper. At $35,000 of income, IBR charges $92.17 a month and forgives $64,821.61 after 20 years, while RAP charges $100.00 and forgives $30,000 after 30 years.

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The graduation ledger · Table No. 42

Student Loan Repayment Plans in 2026: RAP vs IBR vs Standard

SAVE was vacated in March 2026 and terminated by statute, and about 7 million borrowers had to choose a new plan. This article prices the two plans that remain, RAP and IBR, against the standard plan, on the same loan at the same income.

Filed October 30, 2026 · figures checked against 2026 sources

SAVE is gone. Here is what replaced it.

The Saving on a Valuable Education plan, SAVE, was the income-driven plan that carried the most borrowers, and it no longer exists. A federal court vacated it on March 10, 2026, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminated it by statute the same year. About 7 million enrolled borrowers were notified in mid-2026 to choose a new plan within about 90 days, and borrowers still sitting in SAVE forbearance need to pick something now, because there is no SAVE to return to. The servicers say it plainly: MOHELA, Aidvantage, and Edfinancial all list the same two live options, and the Federal Student Aid site points borrowers to the same two. The two are the Repayment Assistance Plan, RAP, which opened July 1, 2026, and Income-Based Repayment, IBR, which continues. Two older plans, PAYE and ICR, survive only as legacy options: they are closed to new enrollment, and they end entirely on July 1, 2028, so anyone still on one of them has until then to move. If the last time a borrower looked at income-driven repayment was a year ago, most of what they learned is now out of date, and the plan names on their account are no longer the map.

The change matters because the plans calculate payments in fundamentally different ways, which is why one can be dramatically cheaper than another for the same borrower. RAP charges a percentage of the borrower's entire adjusted gross income. IBR charges a percentage of discretionary income, which is income minus a protected amount tied to the poverty line. The standard plan charges neither: it is fixed amortization over ten years, the same payment every month, and it is the cheapest way out in total. The rest of this article prices all three on the same loan, so the trade-off is stated in dollars: the monthly relief on one side, the total cost and the forgiven balance on the other.

The three plans on one loan

Take a $30,000 balance at 6.52 percent, a $55,000 adjusted gross income, a single borrower with no dependents, and a first loan on or after July 1, 2014, which makes the borrower a new borrower for IBR. The standard plan charges $340.95 a month for 120 months, costs $10,913.92 in interest, and clears the loan in October 2036 with nothing forgiven. RAP charges 6 percent of the whole $55,000 income, because the rate rises 1 percent for each $10,000 of income, so $55,000 lands in the 6 percent bracket, which is $275.00 a month. At that payment the loan clears in 166 months, costs $15,588.23 in interest, and the total paid is $45,588.23, with nothing forgiven. IBR charges 10 percent of discretionary income, which is $55,000 minus 150 percent of the 2026 poverty guideline for a single borrower, $23,940, leaving $31,060, so 10 percent is $3,106 a year, or $258.83 a month. At that payment the loan clears in 184 months, costs $17,460.54 in interest, and the total paid is $47,460.54, with nothing forgiven.

Plan	Monthly payment	Time	Total paid	Forgiven
Standard, 10 years	$340.95	120 months	$40,913.92	$0.00
RAP (6% of AGI)	$275.00	166 months	$45,588.23	$0.00
IBR (10% of discretionary)	$258.83	184 months	$47,460.54	$0.00

At these defaults, the income-driven plans are a straightforward trade: RAP saves $65.95 a month and costs $4,674.31 more in total, and IBR saves $82.12 a month and costs $6,546.62 more. Neither plan reaches forgiveness, because the balance is small enough and the income high enough that the payments clear the loan first. That is the common case at a $30,000 balance and a $55,000 income, and it is the case in which the standard plan is clearly the better deal for anyone who can afford it. The income-driven plans earn their keep at lower incomes and larger balances, where the monthly saving is the difference between paying and not paying, and where forgiveness does real work. The table below shows RAP at five incomes on the same $30,000 loan, and the pattern is the whole story of the plan: at $30,000 of income the payment is $100 a month, the balance never falls, and $30,000 is forgiven after 30 years; at $100,000 of income the payment is $833.33 a month and the loan clears in 41 months.

RAP, by income

RAP's rate is a staircase: 1 percent of adjusted gross income for income under $10,000, rising 1 percent for each additional $10,000, up to 10 percent, then minus $50 a month per dependent, with a $10 floor. The payment is based on the whole income, not on income above a protected amount, which is the sharpest difference from IBR. A borrower at $30,000 of income pays 4 percent, or $100.00 a month. A borrower at $45,000 pays 5 percent, or $187.50 a month. A borrower at $55,000 pays 6 percent, or $275.00. A borrower at $75,000 pays 8 percent, or $500.00. A borrower at $100,000 pays 10 percent, or $833.33. The staircase means the payment jumps at each $10,000 boundary, so a $1 raise that crosses a boundary can raise the payment by $41.67 a month at the $50,000 boundary, and by $75.01 at the $90,000 boundary, which is a quirk worth knowing before a bonus or a raise lands.

AGI	RAP rate	Monthly payment	Total paid	Forgiven after 30 years
$30,000	4%	$100.00	$36,000.00	$30,000.00
$45,000	5%	$187.50	$67,500.00	$2,793.06
$55,000	6%	$275.00	$45,588.23	$0.00
$75,000	8%	$500.00	$36,404.75	$0.00
$100,000	10%	$833.33	$33,474.15	$0.00

Two rows in the table deserve a second look. At $30,000 of income, the $100 payment is less than the month's interest of $163.00, so under any ordinary plan the balance would grow. Under RAP it does not, because unpaid monthly interest is waived, so the balance stays exactly at $30,000 for thirty years while the borrower pays $36,000 in total, and the whole $30,000 is forgiven at the end. The waiver is the quiet feature of the plan, and it is what makes RAP survivable at low incomes. At $45,000 of income, the $187.50 payment is just above the interest, so the balance creeps down for thirty years and $2,793.06 is left to forgive, after $67,500 paid in total, which is more than the standard plan's $40,913.92 and more than RAP at $55,000, because the loan lives the full thirty years. RAP is cheapest, in total, at the incomes where the payment is large enough to clear the loan early, and most expensive where the payment is just large enough to keep the loan alive for the whole term.

IBR, and where it beats RAP

IBR protects income before it charges. Discretionary income is adjusted gross income minus 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the household size, and the payment is 10 percent of that for new borrowers, 15 percent for older borrowers whose first loan predates July 1, 2014. The 2026 guideline is $15,960 for a single borrower in the contiguous states, so 150 percent is $23,940, and a single borrower at $55,000 has $31,060 of discretionary income and a $258.83 payment. The payment is capped at the standard 10-year payment, so an older borrower at 15 percent, whose uncapped payment would be $388.25 a month at $55,000, actually pays the standard $340.95 and finishes in 120 months, which makes IBR identical to the standard plan for that borrower. Forgiveness comes after 20 years of payments for new borrowers and 25 years for older ones, which is ten years sooner than RAP's 30, and that shorter clock is IBR's main advantage.

IBR wins where income is low or the household is large, because the protected amount does the work. At $35,000 of income for a single new borrower, the IBR payment is $92.17 a month, against RAP's $116.67 at the same income, and over 20 years the borrower pays $22,120.00 in total while the balance, which grows because the payment is below the interest, reaches $64,821.61 and is forgiven. At $45,000 of income, IBR charges $175.50 a month, the borrower pays $42,120.00 over 20 years, and $23,855.01 is forgiven. At $55,000 of income with a household of two, the protected amount rises to $32,460, discretionary income falls to $22,540, the payment falls to $187.83 a month, and $17,791.95 is forgiven after $45,080.00 paid. With a household of four at the same income, the protected amount is $49,500, discretionary income is $5,500, the payment is $45.83 a month, and $87,599.04 is forgiven after $11,000.00 paid. The household size matters because the poverty guideline grows by $5,680 per person, and every person in the household shields another $8,520 of income from the IBR calculation. RAP, which charges on the whole income, has no equivalent shield, only the $50 a month per dependent.

The new insight

RAP's interest waiver is the difference between a plan that pauses a loan and a plan that grows one. At $35,000 of income on a $30,000 balance, RAP's $116.67 payment is $46.33 short of the month's interest, and the waiver erases that $46.33 every month, so the balance stays at $30,000 for thirty years while the borrower pays $42,000.00 in total, and the whole $30,000 is forgiven at the end. The same borrower on IBR pays $92.17 a month, and with no waiver the unpaid interest capitalizes into the balance, which grows to $64,821.61 before it is forgiven. Both plans forgive the balance in the end, and both cost the borrower about $22,000 to $42,000 over the term, but only RAP keeps the balance from doubling while the borrower waits. At low incomes, the waiver is the feature. At middle incomes, where the payment covers the interest, it never comes into play, and the choice turns on the rate staircase against the discretionary-income math instead.

Eligibility, dates, and the plans that are closing

Eligibility now depends heavily on dates, which is the part of the 2026 overhaul that catches borrowers out. Loans issued or consolidated on or after July 1, 2026, can only use RAP and the new Tiered Standard Plan, which stretches the standard term to between 10 and 25 years depending on the balance. IBR is closed to those loans. If every loan predates July 1, 2026, both RAP and IBR are open, and the choice is worth pricing on this site's calculator, because the cheaper plan depends on the income and the household size together. Parent PLUS loans cannot use RAP or IBR, and they cannot use PSLF on RAP, which matters for the parents who borrowed for a child's degree. Anyone still on PAYE or ICR has until July 1, 2028, to move, and anyone parked in SAVE forbearance needs to pick something now, because the plan no longer exists to return to. The servicers say borrowers who do not choose will be placed on the Standard or Tiered Standard plan, which is the most expensive monthly option, and the 90-day window the Department gave SAVE borrowers in mid-2026 is the deadline to beat.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness still runs on the same arithmetic: 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full time for a qualifying employer, and the remaining balance is forgiven. On the defaults in this article, a public-service borrower on RAP pays $275.00 a month for 120 months, $33,000.00 in total, and $11,118.22 is forgiven at the end. On the standard plan the same borrower pays $40,913.92 and nothing is forgiven, because the loan clears in the same 120 months. PSLF is the one case in which the income-driven plan is unambiguously cheaper than the standard plan, because the forgiveness clock and the standard term are the same length, and every dollar of monthly relief is a dollar kept. The catch is the same as it has always been: the 120 payments have to be qualifying, the employment has to be certified, and the plan has to be an income-driven one or the standard plan, which is why the servicer's placement matters and why a borrower who expects PSLF should confirm the plan in writing before the payments start counting.

Sources

Federal Student Aid, on the Repayment Assistance Plan and Income-Based Repayment rules in effect July 1, 2026, on the termination of SAVE, and on the Tiered Standard Plan for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2026 poverty guidelines (single borrower $15,960, $5,680 per additional household member, contiguous states). MOHELA, Aidvantage, and Edfinancial borrower notices, on the March 10, 2026 court order ending SAVE, the 90-day switch window for about 7 million enrolled borrowers, and the July 1, 2028 sunset for PAYE and ICR. All payment, total, and forgiveness figures were computed month by month by this site's calculator under the stated model, with income and household size held constant.