FAFSA delay causing lost IDR months - will SAVE program pauses affect my loan forgiveness timeline?

YES!!! This is ridiculous! I'm in the exact same boat - 8 years into my IDR plan and now they're telling us these months don't count?! I sat on hold for TWO HOURS yesterday trying to get answers. The whole system is designed to keep us paying forever. I bet they'll find some new excuse when we get close to the 20 year mark too.

I think there's some confusion here. The SAVE program and IDR payment counting are two different things. The pause is affecting new enrollments in SAVE, but if you're already enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, your qualifying payments should still count toward forgiveness. What matters is that you're making qualifying payments on an IDR plan, whether that's SAVE, REPAYE, PAYE, or IBR. You should log into your studentaid.gov account and check your payment history to confirm which months are counted as qualifying payments. It should show your progress toward forgiveness.

im pretty sure the months DO count as long as ur making payments! my cousin just got his loans forgiven after 22 years... the system sucks but it does eventually work

Financial aid specialist here. There's a lot of misunderstanding about what's happening with SAVE. The program itself is being legally challenged, but if you're already enrolled in ANY income-driven repayment plan (IDR, PAYE, REPAYE, IBR, or SAVE), months of qualifying payments still count toward forgiveness. The key here is "qualifying payments" - months have to meet specific criteria. If you've been making payments for 7 years under an IDR plan, those months should count. However, if you had periods where payments were $0 due to economic hardship or other factors, those months might not count depending on which specific IDR plan you're on. Each plan has slightly different rules. I recommend requesting your payment history verification directly from your loan servicer in writing. You can also file a complaint through the FSA Feedback System if you believe your payment count is incorrect.

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to FSA? I was having the same issue with never being able to reach anyone, but I used claimyr.com and they got me connected to a live agent in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 3+ hour wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I spoke with confirmed that my IDR payments are still counting even with the SAVE program pause. She also helped me submit a request to review my payment history to make sure everything is being counted correctly. Definitely worth checking out if you're still trying to get answers.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED TOTAL LOAN FORGIVENESS!!! Not this 20/25 year nonsense where they keep changing the rules and moving the goalposts. By the time they forgive our loans we'll be ready to retire. The whole system is corrupt!

Ughhh I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I'm only 3 years into my repayment but I'm already stressing about the constantly changing rules. Have you checked if you qualify for PSLF instead? If you work for government or non-profit you only need 10 years of payments instead of 20/25...

Update on your question about verifying payment history across multiple servicers: You can request a complete payment history verification through FSA directly. Go to studentaid.gov, download the IDR Request Form, and check the box for payment count verification. Include a cover letter explaining that you've had multiple servicers and want to ensure all qualifying payments are counted. Alternatively, you can submit a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to the Department of Education for your complete loan records, which should include all payment history regardless of servicer. This takes longer but provides comprehensive documentation.

I just checked my FSA account and saw they updated my payment count! It looks like they're still counting payments during this period as long as you're making them on time. Maybe try logging in again to see if your account shows the same?

UPDATE: I finally got through to an FSA representative (used that Claimyr service someone mentioned - it actually worked!) and got some clarification. You all were right - the SAVE program legal challenges don't affect payment counting for existing IDR plans. The agent confirmed all my payments are still being counted, including recent ones. She helped me submit a payment count review since I'd had multiple servicers, and recommended I keep all my payment confirmations just in case. Such a relief! Thanks everyone for your help and advice. This whole system is still frustrating, but at least my timeline isn't being extended.