Yes. If you have federal student loans and you are not enrolled in a deferment, forbearance, income-driven repayment plan, or another approved relief program, you have to pay your student loans back right now. The pandemic payment pause ended and interest resumed on September 1, 2023, with the first payments due in October 2023. A one-year “on-ramp” period that shielded missed payments from credit reporting and default expired on September 30, 2024.1Congress.gov. On-Ramp to Repayment Policy Payments missed today are reported to the credit bureaus and carry the full standard consequences.
What Repayment Plan You’re On
If you finished school and used your six-month grace period, you are already on a repayment plan. For most borrowers, that is the Standard Repayment Plan, which spreads your balance over fixed monthly payments for up to 10 years. You can switch to a different plan at any time through your loan servicer or at StudentAid.gov, but you cannot simply opt out of repayment. Pausing or reducing payments requires qualifying for a specific program.
If You Were Enrolled in SAVE
The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan has been blocked in federal court since 2024.2eCFR. 34 CFR 685.209 – Income-Driven Repayment Plans The Department of Education placed affected borrowers into administrative forbearance, which set their required payment at zero and, for a time, stopped interest from accruing.
That status has changed. In July 2025, the Department notified more than 7.6 million borrowers that interest on loans in SAVE forbearance would start accruing again on August 1, 2025, and urged them to switch to a different repayment plan.3U.S. Department of Education. U.S. Department of Education Announces Agreement with Missouri to End SAVE Plan As of early 2026, the litigation is still ongoing and SAVE’s long-term future is uncertain. If you were enrolled, check your servicer account and visit StudentAid.gov/courtactions for current guidance.
Lowering Your Payment If You Can’t Afford the Standard Amount
If the standard monthly bill is more than your budget allows, you have options other than skipping payments. The right one depends on whether your problem is ongoing (your income is just too low) or temporary (you lost a job, had a medical crisis, or hit a short-term rough patch).
Income-Driven Repayment
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans base your monthly payment on your income and family size instead of your loan balance. If your income is low enough, your payment can be zero. After 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, any remaining balance is forgiven.
Several IDR plans remain available regardless of what happens with SAVE:
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is available for most Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans, but not parent PLUS loans. Borrowers who took out their first loan after July 1, 2014, pay 10 percent of discretionary income with forgiveness after 20 years. Older borrowers pay 15 percent with forgiveness after 25 years.
- Pay As You Earn (PAYE) caps payments at 10 percent of discretionary income with forgiveness after 20 years, but it is only available to borrowers whose first loan was taken out after October 1, 2007, with a disbursement on or after October 1, 2011.
- Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) sets payments at the lesser of 20 percent of discretionary income or what you would pay on a fixed 12-year plan, with forgiveness after 25 years. This is the only IDR plan parent PLUS borrowers can access, and only after consolidating into a Direct Consolidation Loan.
Defaulted loans are not eligible for any IDR plan. You have to bring them back into good standing first.4Federal Student Aid. Top FAQs About Income-Driven Repayment Plans If you hold older Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans that are not held by the Department of Education, you will need to consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan before you can access most IDR plans.5Federal Student Aid. What to Know About Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Loans
Deferment
Deferment pauses your payments for a specific qualifying reason.6eCFR. 34 CFR 685.204 – Deferment An unemployment deferment covers up to three years total while you are actively looking for full-time work. An economic hardship deferment is also capped at three cumulative years and requires proof of financial difficulty, such as income below 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline or receipt of certain public benefits. During most deferments, the government pays the interest on your subsidized loans.
Forbearance
General forbearance is more flexible than deferment but less generous. Your servicer can grant it for financial hardship, medical expenses, or other reasons, usually for up to 12 months at a time. Interest keeps accruing on all your loans during forbearance and gets added to your balance, which can significantly increase what you owe over the life of the loan. Treat it as a short-term bridge, not a long-term plan.
How to Apply for Deferment or Forbearance
Contact your federal loan servicer or download the appropriate form from the Federal Student Aid forms library at StudentAid.gov. You will need to document your situation. For an employee, that means recent pay stubs showing gross pay and pay frequency. For self-employed borrowers, a signed statement of expected monthly gross income plus proof of your business. For unemployment, your award or benefit approval letter.7Federal Student Aid. Acceptable Forms of Documentation
Most servicers accept documents through an online upload portal. If you mail your application, use certified mail with a return receipt. Keep making payments while your application is being reviewed. Processing can take several weeks, and any payment that comes due in the meantime is still your responsibility.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
If you work for a government agency or qualifying nonprofit, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) cancels your remaining Direct Loan balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments.8eCFR. 34 CFR 685.219 – Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program The 120 payments do not have to be consecutive, so gaps in qualifying work do not erase progress you have already made. Qualifying employers include federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies (including the military and National Guard), 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and other nonprofits that provide qualifying public services and are not labor unions or partisan political organizations.
Full-time means meeting your employer’s definition of full-time or averaging at least 30 hours per week, whichever is greater. A combined average of 30 hours across multiple part-time qualifying jobs also counts. Only Direct Loans qualify, so FFEL loans must be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan first.5Federal Student Aid. What to Know About Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Loans
Total and Permanent Disability Discharge
If a condition prevents you from working, your federal loans can be discharged entirely. You can apply with one of three types of documentation: certification from a physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or licensed psychologist that you are totally and permanently disabled; a Social Security notice of award or similar documentation showing SSDI or SSI with your next disability review scheduled five to seven years out or an onset date at least five years before your application; or a Department of Veterans Affairs determination that you are unemployable due to a service-connected disability.9eCFR. 34 CFR 685.213 – Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Veterans applying with VA documentation do not need to submit any additional medical records.
What Happens If You Just Stop Paying
Missed federal payments trigger an escalating series of consequences. Knowing the timeline helps you act before the damage compounds.
Delinquency
Your loan is delinquent the day after you miss a payment. Once it is 90 or more days past due, your servicer begins reporting the delinquency to the three major credit bureaus. Reports update monthly in 30-day intervals: 90, 120, 150, and 180-plus days past due.10Federal Student Aid. Credit Reporting Even one delinquency report can lower your credit score enough to affect renting an apartment, buying a car, or qualifying for other loans.
Default
After 270 days of missed payments, your loan is in default. Default opens the door to aggressive collection:11Federal Student Aid. What Are the Consequences of Default
- The government can order your employer to withhold up to 15 percent of your disposable pay through administrative wage garnishment, with no court order required.12eCFR. 34 CFR Part 34 – Administrative Wage Garnishment
- Treasury offset can seize your federal tax refunds and certain federal benefit payments and apply them to your defaulted balance.
- You lose access to additional federal student aid, IDR plans, deferment, and forbearance until the default is resolved.
Getting Out of Default
The main route back is loan rehabilitation. You contact your loan holder and agree in writing to make nine affordable monthly payments within a 10-consecutive-month window. The payment amount is typically calculated as a percentage of your discretionary income, so it can be quite low.13Federal Student Aid. Getting Out of Default Once you complete rehabilitation, the default status is removed from your credit report, though the individual late payments may remain. You can also exit default by consolidating into a new Direct Consolidation Loan, but consolidation does not remove the default from your credit history.
Private Student Loans Are a Separate Question
None of the federal rules above apply to private student loans. Private loans are contracts between you and a bank, credit union, or online lender, and they were never covered by the federal payment pause. Interest has been accruing throughout and your repayment terms are whatever you signed in the original promissory note. Most private lenders require payments to begin shortly after graduation and do not offer the menu of repayment plans, deferments, or forgiveness programs federal loans provide. If you are struggling, ask your lender about hardship options, but these vary widely and often involve continued interest charges and short durations.