ED Returns IDR and Loan Consolidation Applications Online, But SAVE Application Still Blocked
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
After removing the online applications for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and loan consolidation in response to a court injunction, the Department of Education (ED) has returned these applications online. However, the application for the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan – formally the now defunct Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan – remains unavailable.
In February, ED indicated on the StudentAid.gov website that it had taken down the applications for IDR plans and loan consolidation due to an injunction from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. ED initially said that the injunction prevented the department from implementing any provision of the SAVE plan, including its monthly payment formula, as well as processing time-based loan forgiveness for the SAVE, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plans.
In response to the injunction, ED disabled its online application for all the IDR plans — SAVE, PAYE, ICR, and Income-Based Repayment (IBR) — as they all exist on the same form.
However, on Wednesday, ED noted on StudentAid.gov that the online IDR application is available again for borrowers to apply for IBR, PAYE, and ICR plans, along with the loan consolidation application. The option to apply for the SAVE plan has been removed from the list of repayment plans from which to choose. While the application for the remaining IDR plans is back online, ED said that it still cannot process time-based forgiveness for borrowers enrolled in the PAYE, ICR or SAVE plans, only for IBR enrolled borrowers.
Department officials said that the administration has “substantially revised the income-driven repayment plan application” in order to conform with the injunction and noted that paper consolidation applications remained available while the online applications were down.
“Our team was able to relaunch this application within weeks, ensuring borrowers have access and the ability to access all legal repayment plans,” said James Bergeron, ED’s Acting Under Secretary.
On StudentAid.gov, ED wrote that while the IDR application is available again, loan servicers are still updating their systems. Therefore, loan servicers will begin processing IDR applications “in the near future.” ED will update its webpage with more information as it becomes available, including when servicers resume processing IDR applications.
With the IDR application being down for about a month, ED also detailed how borrowers’ IDR recertification deadlines may be impacted.
For example, if a borrower submitted their recertification request on or before Feb. 20, 2025, and their servicer completed processing the request, there is no impact on the borrower. However, if a borrower submitted their recertification request on or before Feb. 20, 2025, and their servicer did not complete processing the request, then the borrower’s recertification date is extended by one year.
Additionally, if a borrower was due to submit a recertification request on or after Feb. 21, 2025, then their recertification date has been extended by one year, and they do not need to submit a recertification request.
Earlier in March, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sued ED for taking down the IDR application, arguing that the action “greatly exceeds” the ruling from the 8th Circuit Court. Furthermore, AFT argued that removing the IDR application hindered borrowers from making progress toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and having affordable monthly payments. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for April 17, 2025.
Publication Date: 3/27/2025
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