SAVE Is Over: Which Student Loan Plan Is Cheapest?

The SAVE student loan plan is over, and if you do nothing, your payment can jump from $0 to a fixed standard bill. We run one example borrower through every plan still standing: RAP (the new Repayment Assistance Plan), IBR, and the default you land on if you ignore the letter. Example: $35,000 of undergraduate loans, $45,000 income, single, 6.53% interest. Doing nothing puts her on the 10-year Standard plan at $398 a month. RAP is $150. IBR is $176. At $25,000 income IBR wins ($8.83 vs $41.67). For a single borrower with no kids, RAP is the lower monthly payment roughly between $35,000 and $70,000 of income; below or above that band, IBR usually is. CHAPTERS 0:00 SAVE is over: what happens now 0:56 What actually ended (timeline) 2:04 What doing nothing costs: $0 to $398 3:01 The new plan, RAP: $150 and the interest waiver 4:38 Is RAP the cheapest? RAP vs IBR by income 6:08 Still in school? New loans after July 2026 6:31 The honest part: tax, defaults, your own numbers 7:16 Autopay: 1 point off, deadline Dec 31 7:43 Three things worth keeping + one 10-minute task WHAT TO DO TODAY Log in at StudentAid.gov, open the Repayment Calculator, and compare your RAP and IBR payments. Autopay enrolment by 31 December 2026 cuts your rate by 1 percentage point until June 2028. SOURCES SAVE ended by court order, 10 March 2026; 90-day notices; default plan if no choice: MOHELA (federal loan servicer), SAVE Plan FAQ, mohela.studentaid.gov Interest restarted on SAVE loans 1 August 2025; nearly 7.7 million SAVE borrowers: U.S. Department of Education press release, 9 July 2025 RAP payment brackets (1–10% of AGI), SAVE and IBR formulas: 34 CFR 685.209 (eCFR). Tiered Standard terms: 34 CFR 685.208 RAP $10 minimum, $50 per dependent, interest waiver, $50 principal match, 30 years: Congressional Research Service, In Focus IF13075 (31 July 2025) Worked examples ($150 RAP, $176 prior IDR, $341 and $262 on $30,000): U.S. Department of Education, "Fact Sheet: The Trump Administration Is Simplifying Student Loan Repayment" IBR vs RAP forgiveness (20 vs 30 years): U.S. Department of Education, Income-Based Repayment Plan Comparison 2026 poverty guideline, 1 person: $15,960. HHS/ASPE 2026 Poverty Guidelines Forbearance (8 million) and default (9.3 million, $234 billion): Federal Student Aid, FSA Data Center update, 22 September 2026 Autopay rate cut and 31 December deadline: AP via PBS News, 7 October 2026; MOHELA Forgiveness taxable from 2026: 26 U.S.C. §108, as amended by P.L. 119-21 §70119 Educational content only, not financial or tax advice. Your numbers depend on your rate, income, family size and loan dates; check the official Repayment Calculator. #StudentLoans #SAVEPlan #PersonalFinance #MoneyBasics #RAP