Overview

• A July 18 policy letter from the Department of Education confirms that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has officially ended the SAVE repayment program.
• Interest on roughly 7.7 million SAVE loans will resume on August 1, 2025, terminating the zero-interest forbearance period.
• About 460,000 borrowers were denied access to SAVE’s capped-payment benefits and now face steeper repayment obligations.
• Under the Income-Based Repayment plan, monthly bills could rise from 5% to 10–15% of discretionary income, potentially doubling payments for many.
• A new Repayment Assistance Plan is set to launch on July 1, 2026, but it remains unclear if it will match or undercut IBR’s costs.