Student Loan Recertification Extended: What It Means For You

• Most borrowers in IDR plans don’t have to recertify income or family size until at least 2026.

• If your payment just went up, it may go back down — no action needed if your servicer fixes it automatically.

• If your recertification date is after Feb. 1, 2026, you must still recertify by that deadline.

• You can’t switch IDR plans right now, but forgiveness credit still counts if you’re enrolled.

Yes. Federal student loan recertification has been extended to February 2026 for most student loan borrowers enrolled on income-driven repayment (IDR) plans like SAVE, IBR, PAYE, and ICR. That means you likely won’t need to submit income information or renew your plan this year.

But it’s not one-size-fits-all. The extension applies differently depending on when you were originally scheduled to recertify.

Let’s break down what this actually means, who qualifies, and what to watch out for.

Here’s how the IDR recertification extension plays out based on your situation:

If you already submitted your recertification…

• If your servicer processed it, nothing changes.

• If your application wasn’t processed and you submitted it on or before Feb. 20, 2025, your recertification date should be extended to 2026. No need to resubmit.

• If you submitted it after Feb. 20, your payment may have gone up, and your recertification date was not extended.

• If your income went up, you may want to cancel your application to avoid a higher payment.

• If it went down, ask your servicer to recalculate based on your new income, which is different from recertification.

Call your servicer and ask them to “pull” the application. Be clear about whether you want to cancel or recalculate.

If your recertification date has already passed and your payment increased…

Your payment may have been temporarily recalculated based on outdated information.

If your recertification date was on or before March 17, 2025, and you didn’t submit anything, your recertification should now be extended to 2026, and your payment should return to its previous amount.

That update may take a few weeks to show up, so watch your account. If it doesn’t change, you may need to submit a new application.

If you’re in SAVE…

The SAVE plan forbearance covers you. No payments due, no interest accruing. But you’re not earning forgiveness credit during this forbearance, even if you’re otherwise eligible.

If you’re in IBR, PAYE, or ICR…

You’re still making payments. And those payments are still qualified for forgiveness.

You likely won’t need to recertify until 2026, especially if your original date was before March 18, 2025. That’s good news if your income went up.

If you missed your recertification and got bumped to the 10-year Standard plan…

That’s likely a mistake. Servicers are working to fix it. Your payment should be reset to your prior IDR amount, but it may take time.

Keep checking your account. If it doesn’t update within a few weeks, call your servicer and ask them to review your recertification status.

• Log in to your servicer’s portal and StudentAid.gov to check your current recertification date.

• If your payment increased recently, and you didn’t recertify, wait. Your servicer may fix it automatically.

• If you submitted a recertification request before Feb. 20, 2025, but it wasn’t processed, you’re fine. No need to resubmit.

• If you didn’t submit, you need to apply now to get back on an income-based payment.

• Cancel any IDR applications you didn’t mean to submit. Call your servicer and ask them to “pull” or remove the pending form.

• Track your PSLF or forgiveness progress manually. Your account info might lag during the pause, so keep your own records just in case.

Yes, you can still apply—but most applications won’t be processed right away.

Online IDR applications are coming back (kind of)

The Education Department (ED) says the online IDR application will be back on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website starting March 26. But even if you apply, processing is still on hold, and we don’t have a clear timeline for when that hold will lift.

There are also ongoing legal challenges:

• The American Federation of Teachers has sued the ED for freezing IDR processing.

• The Student Borrower Protection Center is working on its own lawsuit to try and force the Department to start processing applications again.

Until those cases play out, expect delays.

What if you submitted a paper application?

Your application is likely sitting in limbo. Processing is paused across the board—so even if your servicer received it, they probably won’t act on it yet.

What if you’re graduating soon and need to enroll in IDR?

You’ll likely have a six-month grace period after graduation. By the time that ends, this pause should be resolved (hopefully). You shouldn’t need to take action yet, but keep an eye out in case things change.

What if you’re consolidating loans, especially for Parent PLUS double consolidation?

You should still be able to submit an IDR application as part of the process. But again, processing may be delayed for now. That includes double consolidation strategies for Parent PLUS borrowers.

Can you cancel a pending application?

Yes. Call your loan servicer and ask them to pull or cancel your application. As long as it hasn’t been processed, it can be removed. Just make sure to:

• Get confirmation that it was pulled.

• Call back a week or two later to verify cancellation.

Do payments during forbearance count toward PSLF?

No. Time in forbearance, whether it’s processing-related or voluntary, doesn’t count toward PSLF because you’re not in a qualifying repayment status.

But an exception was made during the pandemic—here’s when forbearance counts toward PSLF.

Even if you choose to make payments during forbearance, they won’t count toward PSLF unless you’re actively in a qualifying repayment plan.

If you’re trying to stay on track with Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you have two main options:

• Call your servicer and ask to be pulled out of forbearance and placed on the 10-Year Standard Plan (a PSLF-qualifying plan).

• Wait until your IDR application is processed, then resume payments under that qualifying IDR plan.

What about IDR forgiveness?

This extension can actually help.

If you’re close to reaching forgiveness under an IDR plan—especially income-based repayment, which courts have treated as more secure than PAYE or income-contingent repayment (ICR)—having your recertification pushed out means:

• You avoid a payment increase if your income went up.

• You stay enrolled in your plan and can keep earning forgiveness credit.

Will this trigger a tax bomb?

Not immediately—but the clock is ticking.

Forgiveness under IDR plans is currently tax-free through the end of 2025, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. After that, we don’t yet know what Congress will do.

So if you hit forgiveness after 2025, there’s a chance you could face a federal tax bill on the forgiven loan balance—unless a new law extends the current protections.

Related: The SAVE Plan Tax Bomb

What about interest?

• If you’re in a SAVE forbearance, no interest will accrue during this period.

• If you’re in IBR, PAYE, or ICR and still making payments, interest is accruing—but you’re also getting forgiveness credit if you’re in a qualifying plan.

• If you’re in forbearance (but not SAVE), unpaid interest accrues, and you’re not earning forgiveness credit unless you eventually buy that time back.

Related: How Student Loan Interest Works

Can I buy back time in forbearance?

Possibly.

The PSLF Buyback Program and IDR Account Adjustment lets you retroactively count certain forbearance or deferment periods toward forgiveness. If you’ve been in forbearance recently—especially a processing forbearance—you may be able to buy that time back later. The rules are still evolving.

Where can I see my recertification date?

Log in to your servicer’s portal—look for your IDR recertification date under payment plan details or in your account messages.

That said, your account might not be updated yet.

What if your servicer shows nothing… or something wrong?

Call your servicer. Ask them directly:

• What’s my current recertification date?

• Has my application been processed or canceled?

• Am I in forbearance or active repayment?

If the rep doesn’t have an answer, try again in a few days. You may need to follow up more than once.

Why is everything so unclear right now?

Honestly? The system is still catching up.

Servicers need time to retrain hundreds (if not thousands) of staff, update software, and apply new federal guidance. That doesn’t excuse poor service, but it explains the lag.

Just because you saw an announcement doesn’t mean the call center is fully briefed the next day.

What if your servicer still doesn’t update your account?

Give it time—but stay proactive.

• Check your account weekly.

• Call in again if your status doesn’t change.

• Document your conversations and screenshots, just in case.

Nothing bad happens immediately. Servicers can’t send loans to collections until you’re 90 days past due. But interest might still be accruing, so it’s worth staying on top of things.

Is this just happening with MOHELA?

No—this affects all federal loan servicers, not just MOHELA.

The delays in account updates, recertification date changes, and processing pauses are part of a system-wide change being directed by the Education Department. All servicers are seeing the same issues.

Think of it like this: federal student loan servicing is a massive operation. When a big policy change hits, it takes time to train call center reps, update systems, and apply new rules across millions of accounts. It’s not an overnight fix.

The Education Department says it paused IDR applications and extended recertification deadlines because of recent court rulings. Those rulings temporarily block parts of the 2023 regulation that reformed IDR plans, including SAVE and updates to older plans like IBR, PAYE, and ICR.

According to the ED, the court orders don’t just pause new features under SAVE. They pause everything tied to that 2023 rule. That includes how payments are calculated, how forgiveness credit is tracked, and even how applications are processed.

Rather than risk violating the court order, the ED chose to stop processing all IDR applications for now and reset some borrower payment amounts.

Not everyone agrees with that decision, but it’s the justification the Department is offering while the legal challenges play out.

The recertification deadline got pushed—but that doesn’t mean your account is right. Payments are changing without warning. Applications are stuck. Servicers don’t have straight answers.

You might not need to do anything today, but if your payment just jumped, your forgiveness tracking looks off, or your recertification date hasn’t updated, you need to stay on it.

If you’re tired of guessing, we’ll make it simple.

Book a call with our student loan expert.

We’ll tell you what’s going on with your loans, what (if anything) you need to fix, and how to avoid getting screwed by delays or bad info.

Related reading:

• How Do I Change My Student Loan Repayment Plan?

• Student Loan Forgiveness Lawsuit Updates