Student loan borrowers in income driven repayment plans, such as Income Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), have been in limbo for the last month wondering if they are able to keep their existing student loans payments or not.
Borrowers in these plans are required to certify their income and family size annually in order to accurately assess what their monthly student loan payment would be. Failure to recertify on time can result in payments rising significantly.
Yesterday, Federal Student Aid released guidance to their loan servicers to move recertification dates impacted by the processing pause to at least February 2026.
For borrowers impacted by the pause, this is a big win, as some had already reported seeing their monthly loan payments rise significantly.
While this announcement doesn’t change the fact that Income Driven Repayment (IDR) applications are not currently being processed, it does give relief to borrowers already enrolled in these plans.
This announcement also comes just hours after a lawsuit was filed against the Department of Education for blocking these Congressionally-approved plans. One of the core arguments of the lawsuit was that blocking recertification was illegal. However, it still does not address new enrollments into options like IBR.
Extension Of Recertification Deadlines
Here is what the announcement says:
Extending IDR Recertification of Family Size and Income (Anniversary Dates) – No Action Required from You.
- Recertification of IDR plans will not be required until at least February 2026.
- SAVE plan recertification dates were already extended.
- Income Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) plans are in the process of being extended. Please allow a few weeks for this extension to occur. We will notify borrowers when this is complete.
Borrowers in the SAVE repayment plan forbearance had already been reporting their dates had shifted, but their forbearance is due to the ongoing SAVE litigation.
Borrowers in IBR, ICR, and PAYE had not received notification directly (though there were cases of borrowers reporting it). This statement confirms that borrowers already enrolled in these plans will see their recertification dates move.
It’s important to note that this is likely a manual process, and will take time.
IDR Plan Enrollment
It’s important to note that this new announcement does not change the fact that IDR enrollment and application processing is currently paused.
The announcement also stated:
Status of IDR Applications – No Action Required from You.
- IDR eSign and forms are not available for submission.
- Pending IDR applications cannot be processed.
- If a pending application has been received, forbearances are automatically being placed on loans to suspend payment.
For borrowers who submitted an application for an IDR plan before the processing pause, you will be in a processing forbearance until application processing resumes.
This is frustrating for borrowers who were looking to change repayment plans to potentially start accruing eligible payments for programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The announcement did make clear that borrowers can switch to other non-IDR plans, such as the standard plan. However, this option may not be beneficial for most borrowers.
What Borrowers Should Do Right Now
All borrowers should make sure they can login to their loan servicers and see when their next required payment will be. Borrowers should also check any recertification dates and set calendar reminders. Finally, borrowers should ensure their contact information is updated so the don’t miss any new announcements. This includes email and physical address.
For borrowers in the SAVE plan specifically, you are currently in administrative forbearance. The timeline for this is unknown, as it will depend on the outcome of the court cases. However, even once there is a final ruling, it will take time for the Department of Education to issue new rules on what repayment will look like going forward.
It’s important to remember there are 8 million borrowers in SAVE, and moving these individuals to new repayment plans will take coordiantion and time.
For borrowers in IBR, PAYE, and ICR, repayment will continue as normal. Income and family size recertification will move to 2026. For any impacted individuals who saw their payments rise in the last three weeks, it’s unclear what the recourse will be at this moment.
All student loan borrowers need to remain vigilant on their student loans and check their accounts regularly for updates.
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