What’s changed: Updated October 1, 2026: the autopay deadline for the 1 point rate cut has been extended from September 30 to December 31, 2026. Full update history.
Educational, not advice. This article explains the end of the SAVE student loan plan and the deadlines that follow it. It is general information, not personal financial advice. Savvy Investor Guide is not a registered investment adviser and is not authorized or regulated by the SEC or the FCA. Nothing here tells you which repayment plan to pick.
In short
- SAVE has ended. About 7.5 million federal student loan borrowers need a different plan.
- September 29 is the first deadline, not everyone’s. Yours is at least 90 days from your own servicer’s notice.
- Miss it and you are moved automatically to the Standard or the new Tiered Standard plan, neither of them income-based.
- December 31 is a separate autopay deadline. It was September 30 until the Department extended it. Enroll by then and your rate is cut by 1 point through June 30, 2028.
- About 1.5 million had switched by mid-September, according to the Department of Education.
The SAVE plan deadline in this month’s headlines is September 29. For many of the roughly 7.5 million borrowers who were in SAVE, that is not the date that matters. It belongs to the first group notified. Your own date may be later, and it is your servicer who sets it.
Why the SAVE plan ended
SAVE, short for Saving on a Valuable Education, was an income-driven repayment plan created by regulations published in July 2023. Missouri and six other states sued in April 2024. In July 2024 a federal court blocked parts of the plan, and SAVE borrowers went into an administrative forbearance at 0% interest. The Eighth Circuit blocked the whole plan in February 2025. Interest on SAVE loans started accruing again on August 1, 2025, and on December 9, 2025 the Department of Education announced an agreement with Missouri to end SAVE.
Separately, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, Public Law 119-21, signed on July 4, 2025, rewrote the menu of federal repayment plans. The Department’s final rule under it took effect on July 1, 2026. It phases out the Income-Contingent Repayment plans and adds two new ones: a Tiered Standard plan and an income-driven plan called the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP.
Your SAVE plan deadline is personal
The Department set out the process on March 27, 2026. Borrowers “will be given at least 90 days to enter a legal repayment plan”, its release says, and “Servicers will notify borrowers of their specific 90-day deadline.” The notices started going out on July 1.
Ninety days from July 1 is September 29. That is the whole story of the date: it is the deadline for the borrowers notified first. Newsweek’s September 15 report says as much, that “the first group of borrowers will reach that deadline on September 29.” Anyone notified later has a later date.
The date that applies to you is the one in your servicer’s notice. Nobody has to wait for it, either. The same release says a borrower “may contact their servicer at any time to enroll in a lawful repayment plan”.
What happens if you miss your deadline
In the Department’s own words: “Borrowers who do not transition plans within the 90-day period communicated by their servicer will be automatically enrolled into either the Standard Repayment Plan, or the new Tiered Standard Plan that will be available beginning July 1.”
Both are fixed plans. The payment is set by the loan balance and the term, not by income, so a borrower whose SAVE payment was low or zero can face a much larger monthly bill. It also means leaving an income-driven plan, which matters to anyone counting on forgiveness through one.
The plans SAVE borrowers can move to
- The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). The new income-driven plan, available from July 1, 2026. The final rule sets the monthly payment at “a percentage of a borrower’s income, not to exceed 10 percent”, with a reduction for dependents, an interest subsidy, a matching principal payment, and “the potential for loan forgiveness after 30 years”. RAP payments count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness when the other conditions are met.
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR). The existing income-driven plan, which continues under the new rules.
- The Standard plan and the Tiered Standard plan. Fixed payments, not based on income, and the two plans borrowers land on if they do not choose.
The Income-Contingent Repayment plans are being phased out, so they are not a long-term home. Which plan fits depends on income, family size, balance and whether forgiveness is the goal. A servicer can show the payment under each.
December 31: the autopay deadline for a 1 point rate cut
This one gets mixed up with the SAVE plan deadline, and it has nothing to do with it. On June 18, 2026 the Department announced that borrowers enrolled in automatic payments get “a 1 percent interest rate reduction beginning July 1”, with September 30 as the date to enroll by. On September 29 it “extended the enrollment period for the 1 percent interest rate reduction benefit by an additional three months.” Borrowers “who enroll in auto pay by December 31, 2026, or those who are already enrolled, will benefit from the interest rate reduction through June 30, 2028.”
The usual autopay discount is 0.25 percentage points. The Department is adding 0.75 on top, for a total of 1 point, on Direct Loans that originated after July 1, 2012, for student and parent borrowers alike. Anyone with an eligible loan qualifies, whether or not they were ever in SAVE.
How many borrowers still have to switch
A Department spokesperson told Newsweek in mid-September: “We’re pleased that nearly 1.5 million borrowers have already selected a new repayment plan.” Set that against the 7.5 million who were in SAVE and about 6 million remain, which is where the “6 million borrowers” in this month’s headlines comes from. Not all of them face a September deadline.
Common questions
I was in SAVE and have not had a notice. Is September 29 my deadline?
Not necessarily. September 29 is the date for the first group notified. Yours is 90 days from your own notice, and your servicer tells you the date. You can also contact your servicer to change plans before any notice arrives.
What plan will I be put on if I do nothing?
The Standard Repayment Plan or the new Tiered Standard Plan. Both set payments by balance and term, not by income.
Is the autopay deadline only for SAVE borrowers?
No. It covers Direct Loans that originated after July 1, 2012, for student and parent borrowers, whatever plan they are on. Enrolling by December 31, 2026, or already being enrolled, gets the 1 point reduction through June 30, 2028. The deadline was September 30 until the Department extended it on September 29.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, next steps for borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, March 27, 2026
- U.S. Department of Education, student loan interest rate reduction, June 18, 2026
- U.S. Department of Education, enrollment period extended for the student loan interest rate reduction, September 29, 2026
- U.S. Department of Education, agreement with Missouri to end the SAVE plan, December 9, 2025
- Federal Register, 91 FR 23768, Federal Student Loan Program final regulations, May 1, 2026 (PDF)
- Newsweek, “Key Student Loan Deadline Is Approaching for 6 Million Borrowers”, September 15, 2026
Update history: October 1, 2026
Update, October 1, 2026: On September 29 the Department of Education extended the autopay enrollment deadline for the 1 point rate reduction from September 30 to December 31, 2026. The summary, the autopay section and its question now give the new date. September 29, the date for the first group of SAVE borrowers, has passed. The rest of the article is as published on September 19.