Is IBR Going Away? What's Happening to IDR Plans in 2026 (SAVE, PAYE, ICR & RAP)

For most borrowers, Income-Based Repayment isn’t going away. If you’re on IBR, or you’ve been counting on it, the plan you rely on is staying. The headlines about income-driven plans “being eliminated” describe a narrower change: the menu of plans is shrinking from four to two, not disappearing.

Here’s what is changing. SAVE has ended. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) close no later than July 1, 2028. A new plan, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), launched July 1, 2026. IBR stays open. After the transition settles, IBR and RAP are the two income-driven plans that remain.

The rest of this page answers the question plan by plan, then covers what — if anything — to do based on the plan you’re on.

No. Income-Based Repayment has its own statutory authority and was not eliminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act or the SAVE litigation.

IBR stays open indefinitely for borrowers with loans disbursed before July 1, 2026. After July 1, 2028 — when PAYE and ICR close — IBR and RAP will be the only two income-driven repayment plans left.

IBR comes in two versions. Borrowers who first took out loans before July 1, 2014, are in “old IBR” with a 25-year (300-payment) forgiveness timeline and payments at 15% of discretionary income. Borrowers who first took out loans on or after July 1, 2014, are in “new IBR” with a 20-year (240-payment) timeline and payments at 10% of discretionary income. The version you qualify for depends on when your oldest loan was disbursed.

One change works in borrowers’ favor. The partial financial hardship requirement that used to gate IBR enrollment was removed, effective December 22, 2025. If a servicer or the loan simulator told you that you didn’t qualify for IBR because you lacked a partial financial hardship — or because you earned “too much” — that requirement no longer exists. Nearly everyone with eligible loans qualifies now.

Yes. Pay As You Earn closes no later than July 1, 2028, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

If you’re currently in PAYE, the plan is still active. Payments are still processing. Forgiveness credit is still accruing. Nothing changes for you right now.

The deadline applies later. By July 1, 2028, remaining PAYE borrowers transition to IBR or RAP. If you don’t choose before then, you’ll be moved automatically, without controlling which plan you land in. PAYE payments are often lower than IBR payments, so staying in PAYE until the plan closes keeps the lower payment for as long as it exists.

Yes. Income-Contingent Repayment closes on the same timeline as PAYE — no later than July 1, 2028, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

ICR payments are typically higher than other income-driven plans, because the formula uses 20% of discretionary income or a fixed 12-year payment amount, whichever is less. ICR remains active until it closes, and borrowers in ICR can move to IBR before then without losing forgiveness credit.

Not entirely. The category is being consolidated from four plans down to two. Income-driven repayment itself isn’t disappearing.

SAVE is gone — a federal court vacated the plan on March 10, 2026, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended it by statute. PAYE and ICR both close no later than July 1, 2028. After that date, the income-driven options are IBR (for borrowers with pre-July 2026 loans) and the new Repayment Assistance Plan, which launched July 1, 2026.

Forgiveness credit carries between all income-driven repayment plans. Every qualifying payment you’ve made under SAVE, PAYE, IBR, or ICR counts toward forgiveness in whatever plan you move to. Many borrowers don’t realize their specific plan is one option within the IDR category — and the credit earned in any of those plans carries over to any other. When you switch, you pick up where you left off.

One practical effect is worth naming. Some borrowers who were in SAVE with undergraduate-only loans expected 20-year forgiveness under SAVE’s terms. If their oldest loan predates July 2014, they now qualify only for old IBR, which runs 25 years rather than 20. The plan and the timeline both still exist — the timeline is longer than SAVE’s was.

Yes. No calendar cutoff stops you from enrolling in IBR. What determines access is the loans you hold, not the date.

IBR stays available to borrowers whose loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026. The one thing that removes access is taking out a new loan — a new Direct Loan, or a new consolidation loan, disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Borrowers who take a new loan on or after that date use the new Standard plan or RAP instead. A consolidation you completed in the past does not lock you out; only a new loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 does.

July 1, 2026 is not an enrollment deadline for IBR. If you have older loans and haven’t borrowed anything new, you can still enroll.

No — RAP does not replace the plan you’re on, and you are not moved onto it without applying. The Repayment Assistance Plan is a new income-driven plan that launched July 1, 2026.

RAP is the only income-driven plan available to anyone whose first loan was disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Borrowers with older loans can choose RAP or stay on their current plan. RAP forgiveness comes after 360 qualifying payments — that’s 30 years, not 10. Monthly payments run from 1% to 10% of adjusted gross income, with a payment floor.

There is no automatic transfer into RAP. RAP requires an application. SAVE borrowers being moved administratively land on an amended version of IBR, not RAP. If you want RAP, you apply for it; if you do nothing, you won’t wake up on it.

One feature of RAP is worth understanding before choosing it. Time you spend in an earlier income-driven plan counts toward both RAP and IBR. But time you spend on RAP does not count back toward IBR’s forgiveness timeline. Prior credit isn’t lost — you carry it forward when you switch — but forgiveness credit earned while on RAP stays with RAP. That makes moving to RAP hard to reverse.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness is not affected by this. PSLF credit counts on any qualifying income-driven plan, and RAP qualifies. Moving to RAP does not put a PSLF track at risk — the payments still count toward your 120.

For the full payment formula and a side-by-side comparison, see IBR vs. RAP.

For most borrowers, there’s no forced move today — active plans keep running, and what to do next depends on the plan you’re on.

If you were in SAVE: SAVE has ended, and loans parked in SAVE administrative forbearance don’t earn qualifying payment credit while they sit there. Moving to an active plan — IBR now, or RAP as of July 1, 2026 — restores active repayment and forgiveness credit. Starting July 1, 2026, servicers issue notices giving SAVE borrowers a window to choose a plan; borrowers who don’t choose within that window are moved to the Standard plan.

If you’re in PAYE or ICR: The plan is still active and still earning forgiveness credit. You can stay until it closes, no later than July 1, 2028. Switching earlier is optional. Some borrowers move to IBR sooner — for a lower payment, or to control the timing of the change rather than being moved automatically at the deadline. Others stay put because their current payment is lower than IBR’s would be. Running the numbers on your own payment under each plan is the way to see which applies to you.

If you’re in IBR: Nothing changes. IBR is staying. Your payments and forgiveness credit continue as they are.

If a servicer or the simulator says you don’t qualify for IBR: Since the partial financial hardship requirement was removed on December 22, 2025, nearly everyone with eligible loans qualifies. The online tools and some servicer systems have been slow to catch up and may still show “not eligible.” A paper IBR application submitted to your servicer is the way through when the online path shows an incorrect denial. More on that change is at the IBR hardship requirement.

If you’re a Parent PLUS borrower: Parent PLUS loans reach an income-driven plan only through a Direct Consolidation Loan, and the window to consolidate for that purpose closed June 30, 2026. Parent PLUS borrowers who didn’t consolidate by that date now repay through the Standard, Extended, Graduated, or Tiered Standard plan — there’s no income-driven path left. The remaining options are covered in Parent PLUS repayment.

Apply at StudentAid.gov/idr. Select the plan you’re moving into based on eligibility. A paper application is available from your servicer or directly from Federal Student Aid.

• Submit an IDR application. Choose the plan you want. The PAYE vs. IBR comparison breaks down the differences.

• Authorize IRS income data. Applications that pull IRS data typically process within a few business days. Manual income uploads take longer.

• Wait for activation. Your servicer may place the account in processing forbearance during review. Those forbearance months can count toward IDR forgiveness once the plan change is finalized. During processing, some portals temporarily label the plan “IDR” before the final plan name appears.

• Keep your records. A copy of the application confirmation and updated loan summary helps resolve later disputes about payment amounts or qualifying credit.

No. Switching between income-driven repayment plans does not reset your forgiveness progress.

Qualifying months earned under SAVE, PAYE, IBR, or ICR all count toward your IDR forgiveness timeline — whether that’s 20, 25, or 30 years depending on the plan. When you switch, those months carry over. If you made 150 qualifying payments under PAYE and switch to IBR, those 150 payments count toward IBR’s threshold.

Temporary gaps in your payment tracker are processing delays, not lost credit. Servicer portals may briefly show zero counts during a plan change; prior months are restored once processing finishes.

Consolidation is different. A Direct Consolidation Loan replaces the original loan with a new one, which historically reset payment counts. The one-time IDR account adjustment that corrected many of those counts is over — a retroactive fix already applied, not an ongoing program.

IBR, PAYE, ICR, and RAP all qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Switching between them does not reset your PSLF payment count — servicers update the count once the new plan is active.

SAVE payments also counted toward PSLF while the plan existed, and those months still apply after you switch. Because PSLF credit follows you across any qualifying plan, the plan you’re on doesn’t determine whether a public-service month counts — being in a qualifying plan and working for a qualifying employer does.