Switching Between IBR and RAP: How to Do It and What It Costs You
Updated on July 17, 2026
RAP became available on July 1, 2026, and you can apply for it now — but if you’re already in IBR, nothing forces you to switch. You can stay in IBR as long as you want, move to RAP, or move back. What follows is how the switch works and what it does to your forgiveness credit.
What Happens to Your IBR Now That RAP Is Live
RAP doesn’t replace or erase IBR. It became the default plan for new borrowers taking out federal loans after July 1, 2026. If you’re already in IBR, you keep your plan indefinitely — no forced migration and no lost progress.
You’re allowed, but not required, to move to RAP. Your existing IBR payment history — including everything credited through the one-time account adjustment — stays intact. If you’ve made 240 or 300 qualifying payments, those months still count. The main change under RAP is that the finish line moves out five years: 25 years becomes 30, and 20 becomes 25.
Whether that tradeoff works for you depends on your numbers. Related: IBR vs RAP: which plan is better for you.
How to Switch From IBR to RAP
You switch by submitting an income-driven repayment application at StudentAid.gov and selecting RAP — no IBR payment required first, and no waiting for a start date, because RAP has been enrollable since July 1, 2026.
Log in to StudentAid.gov. Use your FSA ID and open the income-driven repayment application.
Start the plan request. Choose to change your repayment plan and select the Repayment Assistance Plan.
Confirm your income and family size. RAP bases your payment on your adjusted gross income and the dependents you claim, so outdated figures change the payment you’re quoted.
Submit and confirm it posts. Your servicer processes the change; follow up to confirm the new plan and payment amount take effect.
Applications are processing now, not just being accepted for a later date.
What Switching Costs You: Forgiveness Credit and Switching Back
Switching plans doesn’t erase the payments you’ve already made, but the forgiveness-credit rules run only one way.
Moving from IBR, PAYE, ICR, or SAVE into RAP carries your qualifying months forward.
Moving the other way is different. Months you pay under RAP don’t count toward IBR’s forgiveness clock if you switch back. Those months count only toward RAP’s own 30-year forgiveness and toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness — not toward IBR’s 20- or 25-year timeline. If you’re aiming for IBR forgiveness rather than PSLF, time spent in RAP doesn’t move you closer to that finish line.
As an existing borrower, you’re allowed to switch back to IBR — there’s no lock-in that traps you in RAP. But because RAP is brand new, the mechanics of switching back haven’t been tested in practice yet. And if IBR forgiveness is your track rather than PSLF, a round trip through RAP costs you the months you spent there — they don’t rejoin your IBR clock.
Are You Forced Onto RAP?
No. If your loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026, you’re an existing borrower, and nothing pushes you off IBR or locks you into RAP. RAP is the default only for borrowers whose first loans are disbursed on or after that date.
Taking out a new loan does not sweep your old loans onto RAP. If you borrow again after July 1, 2026, your existing loans stay on their current IBR clock — only the new loan follows the newer rules. As long as your pre-2026 loans stay put, you keep IBR eligibility and can move between IBR and RAP.
Parent PLUS borrowers have separate rules and tighter deadlines, and a new consolidation can change what income-driven options remain open to them.
What Happens to SAVE, PAYE, and ICR Borrowers
SAVE, PAYE, and ICR are all being phased out — on different timelines and for different reasons.
SAVE no longer exists. On March 10, 2026, a federal appeals court judgment ended the SAVE Plan, vacating the 2023 rule that created it. Roughly 7 million borrowers who were in SAVE administrative forbearance need to move to a different repayment plan. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also eliminates SAVE by statute, effective July 1, 2028 — but the court’s action ended it ahead of that date.
PAYE and ICR stay open until July 1, 2028. New PAYE enrollments end on July 1, 2027. After July 1, 2028, both plans sunset permanently, and borrowers still in them move to IBR or RAP.
Your forgiveness credit carries over. Every qualifying payment you’ve made under SAVE, PAYE, or ICR counts toward forgiveness in whatever plan you move to. If you made 150 payments under PAYE and switch to IBR, you have 150 toward IBR’s 240- or 300-payment threshold. The same carry-forward applies if you switch to RAP, where forgiveness comes at 360 payments (30 years). Borrowers in SAVE forbearance who want to start repayment now can switch to IBR without waiting.
What RAP Gives You
RAP keeps two features that SAVE introduced:
An interest waiver. Unpaid interest won’t pile up as long as you make your required payment.
A principal contribution. Each payment chips at your balance even when your income-based amount is small.
Both features can lower a future tax bill by shrinking the balance that eventually gets forgiven. Related: whether you’ll owe taxes on IBR forgiveness after 2025.
The tradeoff is that RAP’s payments are often higher than SAVE’s old 5% formula, and its forgiveness timeline runs five years longer. Because RAP is live, you can compare the two plans against your own numbers today rather than wait.
Deadlines between now and 2028:
June 30, 2026 (now passed): Parent PLUS borrowers who wanted income-driven repayment needed to consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan by this date.
July 1, 2026: RAP became available. New borrowers taking out loans after this date have RAP as their only income-driven option.
July 1, 2027: New PAYE enrollments close.
July 1, 2028: PAYE and ICR sunset permanently; remaining borrowers move to IBR or RAP.
If you’re already in IBR, none of these dates requires immediate action. Your servicer will send notices when transitions begin.
FAQs
Yes. RAP has been open for enrollment at StudentAid.gov since July 1, 2026, and applications are processing. You apply directly — you don't have to make a payment under your current plan first.
Yes. As an existing borrower you can move from IBR to RAP through the income-driven repayment application at StudentAid.gov. Your qualifying payment history carries forward into RAP.
You're allowed to, as an existing borrower — there's no lock-in. But months you paid under RAP won't count toward IBR's forgiveness clock, and because RAP is new, the switch-back process hasn't been tested in practice yet.
No. Payments made under RAP count toward RAP's 30-year forgiveness and toward PSLF, but not toward IBR's 20- or 25-year forgiveness timeline. Payments you made before entering RAP still count.
No. IBR has its own statutory authority and wasn't affected by the SAVE litigation or the OBBBA phase-outs. It stays open as one of the two income-driven plans left after 2028. For the full breakdown, see what's happening to IDR plans in 2026.
Yes. Borrowers in SAVE administrative forbearance can switch to IBR without waiting for RAP. Contact your servicer to request the plan change; your qualifying payment history carries over.
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