Articles Posted in Student loans

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Christie_1Parent Plus Loans:  Those with Parent Plus loans which have not been consolidated into a Direct Consolidation loan will no longer qualify for income driven repayment or Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

If you missed the July 1, 2026 deadline, this leaves access to three legacy repayment plans:  Standard (10 years), Graduated (10 Years), or Extended (25 years).  Graduated payments start lower, and increase every two years.  Extended payments are available for anyone with $30,000 or more in federal student debt – can be either fixed or graduated – but will result in more total interest.  Our advice over the years for anyone choosing Extended Payments is it is a good plan to keep your monthly nut low, but try to pay it down with bonuses and extra funds to keep the interest under control.

Anyone who previously consolidated before July 1, is eligible for Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), and may have the option to switch to Income Based Repayment for a lower payment.  Switching as early as possible is best for a lower payment.  ICR is scheduled to be eliminated on July 1, 2028, at which time anyone remaining on ICR will have the option to switch to IBR.

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Christie_1RAP: The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) began on July 1, 2026, but information about it remains elusive.  Check the online government portal at studentaid.gov for updates.  Remember, while RAP is a 30 year plan for forgiveness, it does offer an elusive interest subsidy that the older Income Driven Plans do not.  Any accrued credits toward an IDR will transfer to RAP.  Also, only on time payments count toward forgiveness.

RAP is not available for those with Parent Plus loans or any Consolidation loan which includes a Parent Plus loan.  Therefore, the interest subsidy provided by RAP does not apply to any Parent Plus loans.

Tiered Standard Repayment Plan:  This plan is no longer based upon a 10 year term for everyone.  It is now based upon the principal of the loans:

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Christie_1To encourage repayment, the Department of Education has announced that it is offering 1% autopay discounts provided the borrower signs up by September 30.

Remember, the payment will be made automatically even if wrong.

Setting up another account and transferring funds to it to cover the auto-payment may be wise as errors are being reported.

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Christie_1We are now past the July 1, 2026 date where the Working Families Tax Cuts Act takes effect which means a lot has changed for the federal student loan repayment system.

The notices are the result of the Department of Education (“ED”) ending the SAVE plan, a Biden-era income driven repayment program that has been bogged down in lawsuits over the past several years.  Borrowers who have remained on a SAVE forbearance where no payment was due will be in for quite a shock when new payment notices are issued.

There are still around six million borrowers on a SAVE forbearance.  Most servicers started sending out 90 day notice letters starting July 1 – but Nelnet is reporting that it will not be able to send these notice letters until March 2027.  If that is your client, there is the possibility that some people will be able to stay in a SAVE forbearance until the summer of 2027.

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Christie_1While the payment count was removed from the studentaid.gov site, there is a back door you can use to see how many years you have left on an IDR until your student loans are forgiven — if you call your servicer, who knows what answer you’ll get.  If you use this hack, make sure to take a screen shot in case you’ll need later for some reason.  You never know.

Step 1) Log in to studentaid.gov

Step 2) Open another browser tab and go to https://studentaid.gov/app/api/nslds/payment-counter/summary

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February Consumer Lunch

February 10, 2026

Zoom link

 

Attestation Process is Game Changer for Discharging Federal Student Loans

 

Christi Arkovich, Arkovich Law

Bob Branson, Branson Law

Tammy Branson, Branson Law

 

This CLE program explores the Department of Justice and Department of Education’s 2022 guidance that loosened the three-prong test for discharging student loans in bankruptcy through the new attestation process. Attendees will learn about how to analyze loan types and borrower eligibility, how to navigate the detailed attestation form, and borrowers who have successfully used the process. The program also covers how to file and handle these uniquely streamlined adversary proceedings—often resolved without litigation—key differences between bankruptcy schedule calculations and the attestation form, drafting consent final judgments, and practical considerations on fees, billing, and getting paid.

 

Consumer Lunches are no charge and via zoom.
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Christie_1Major student loan changes are coming July 1, 2026. New borrowers will only have two repayment options — Standard or the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). All other income-driven repayment plans (IBR, PAYE, SAVE) are being eliminated for new loans.

The Grad PLUS program is also being eliminated, and Parent PLUS loans are getting capped at $20,000 per year.

Anyone with a Parent Plus loan now — must have consolidation completed before July 2026 in order to obtain an income driven plan.

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Christie_1The new Income Driven Plan (“IDR”) set to roll out next summer on July 1, 2026 is called the Repayment Assistance Plan (“RAP”) for federal student loans.

The administration’s goal is to eliminate the choices and complexity of the present federal student loan repayment system.  The old IBR, new IBR, ICR, PAYE and SAVE plans are all being terminated.  Those legacy plans will exist for three more years until July 1, 2028.  Thereafter, only those borrowers enrolled in non-RAP IDRs can remain in those plans.  It appears that forgiveness will only occur for those enrolled in IBR or RAP.  For instance, someone could remain in PAYE or ICR, but would need to switch to IBR or RAP for forgiveness.

What is RAP?  RAP is an income driven plan going into effect next summer based upon a borrower’s adjusted gross income (“AGI”).  It will offer a tiered payment plan:

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