SAVE Plan suspended by court ruling - what happens to my income-driven repayment now?

Yep, just saw it too. Complete disaster for me also. I did some googling and apparently some Republican states sued to block SAVE, claiming Biden didn't have authority to create the plan. The court agreed and now it's on hold. No idea what happens next but I'm freaking out because my payments were going to be $178 under SAVE but like $380 under the old plans.

Financial aid advisor here. This is a complex situation. The Department of Education is likely going to appeal this ruling immediately, but meanwhile, they have to pause SAVE enrollment. If you were already enrolled in SAVE before July 18, there's a chance your plan status won't change, but that's not guaranteed. If you were planning to enroll but hadn't yet, you'll need to consider PAYE or REPAYE as alternatives for now. The difference is PAYE caps at 10% of discretionary income while REPAYE is 10% but with different calculation methods for discretionary income.

It's completely ridiculous how borrowers are being treated as political footballs. The court's stay means the Department cannot process new SAVE applications or recalculations while this is being fought out. If you're already enrolled in SAVE, they haven't clarified if you'll be kicked off or allowed to remain while the case proceeds. Either way, contact your loan servicer ASAP to understand your options - but be prepared for extremely long wait times as millions of borrowers will be calling.

I was able to get through to a MOHELA rep after trying for days. They said they don't have any official guidance yet on what to do with pending SAVE applications or existing enrollees. They're basically waiting for the Dept of Education to tell them what to do. The rep advised applying for PAYE or REPAYE now as a backup, which is what I did. So frustrating!

this is SUCH BS!!!! just another example of the system being rigged against us. we make plans based on what the government says we can do, and then they just change the rules whenever they want. my payment is going from $0/month to $211!!!! where am i supposed to find an extra $211 in my budget with no warning?????

has anyone heard if this affects PSLF too? i'm 7 years into my 10 years of payments and now im panicking that they'll change those rules too

The timing of this is absolutely horrendous. With payments already resumed after the COVID pause ended, and now this change right before the school year starts... I'm supposed to be helping my daughter with college expenses and now I have to find an extra $150/month for my own loans. Has anyone had luck getting their servicer to approve a temporary payment reduction?

After digging through some news articles, it sounds like the legal challenge is specifically about how SAVE calculates discretionary income and the undergraduate-only subsidy. Since the court issued a stay rather than a permanent injunction, there's actually a decent chance this gets resolved before too long. In the meantime, I'd recommend everyone: 1) Apply for a different IDR plan as backup, 2) Document all communications with your servicer, and 3) Keep checking studentaid.gov for updates.

I'm in a similar boat and just wanted to share what I learned from calling my servicer (FedLoan) yesterday. They confirmed that if you had a pending SAVE application before July 18, it's essentially frozen - they can't process it but they also can't throw it away. The rep suggested I could either wait to see if the court decision gets overturned, or withdraw my SAVE application and apply for PAYE instead. She also mentioned that if the ruling gets appealed successfully, any payments made under a different IDR plan during the suspension period should still count toward forgiveness timelines. Still a mess, but at least there's some clarity on the process.