How do I get off the SAVE plan?
You get off SAVE by enrolling in a legal repayment plan — RAP or IBR — through your account on StudentAid.gov. A federal court vacated SAVE on March 10, 2026, and servicers began mailing exit notices on July 1, 2026. Each notice starts a 90-day clock that is specific to you, and the deadlines are staggered by servicer rather than universal. If you do not choose within your window, your servicer enrolls you automatically, which for the roughly half of SAVE borrowers who were paying $0 can mean a bill in the hundreds.
Do months in SAVE forbearance count toward loan forgiveness?
No. Months spent in SAVE administrative forbearance earn no credit toward PSLF, IDR forgiveness, or anything else, and interest has been accruing on those balances since August 2025. A $0 payment that earns zero credit is not a break, it is a pause on your progress while the balance grows. Qualifying payments you made before the forbearance do carry over when you move to a new plan.
What is the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)?
RAP is the new federal income-driven repayment plan that launched July 1, 2026. Payments run from 1% to 10% of your income with a $10 monthly floor, forgiveness comes after 360 qualifying payments (30 years), and borrowers who pay in full and on time are protected from runaway interest. RAP is the only income-driven plan available to anyone whose first loan was disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, and it is the only plan issued after that date that qualifies for PSLF.
Does the Tiered Standard Plan count for PSLF?
No. The Tiered Standard Plan does not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and that matters because it is the default plan for federal loans issued on or after July 1, 2026. If you work for a nonprofit, a school district, or a government agency and you land in Tiered Standard without choosing it, every payment you make earns you nothing toward forgiveness. Terms are fixed by balance: 10 years under $25,000, 15 years from $25,000 to $49,999, and 20 years from $50,000 to $99,999.
Should I consolidate my student loans?
Consolidate only after you have modeled what it does, because a Direct Consolidation Loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 permanently moves all of your federal debt under the new rules, including into RAP. Borrowers who consolidate simply to simplify their paperwork can change their entire repayment and forgiveness picture without realizing they made that choice. Sometimes consolidation is exactly right; the point is that it should be a decision rather than a side effect.
Can I appeal my financial aid award?
Yes. A financial aid award letter is an opening offer, not a final decision, and schools reassess through a process called professional judgment review. Valid grounds include a drop in income, a job loss, medical bills, or a sibling starting college. We have taken families from an offer covering 0% of tuition to 95% covered and renewable for four years, and from a $10,500 package to $17,500.
When does the 2027-28 FAFSA open?
The 2027-28 FAFSA opens October 1, 2026, and it uses your 2025 tax return. Create your StudentAid.gov account before then, because identity verification is the most common day-one bottleneck and can take several days to clear. File early regardless of the federal deadline: state and college priority deadlines land much earlier, and priority deadlines are where the money actually runs out.
How do I find out who services my student loans?
Log in to StudentAid.gov and your servicer is listed in your account dashboard. If you cannot get in, that is usually an identity verification problem rather than a missing account, and it is worth solving immediately because every deadline in the current transition runs through your servicer. We do this lookup for families on the phone in a few minutes.
Is there a free tool to compare student loan repayment plans?
Yes. Federal Student Aid's Repayment Calculator, formerly called the Loan Simulator, is free on StudentAid.gov and shows every plan your loans qualify for, your estimated payment under each, total cost over the life of the loan, consolidation scenarios, and PSLF projections. It can import your income directly from the IRS so the numbers reflect reality. What it will not tell you is which plan fits your career, family size, and forgiveness timeline, which is the part most families want a person for.
What makes Financial Aid Network the number one financial aid service for families?
Financial Aid Network has helped students and families navigate college admissions and funding since 2011, backed by a team with more than 50 years of combined experience. We are an SBA-certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), we serve families nationwide and internationally, and we handle the entire journey from the first application to the final tuition bill. Every call is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Is Financial Aid Network legitimate?
Yes. Financial Aid Network, LLC is a Florida limited liability company founded in 2011, holds SBA certification as both a Women-Owned Small Business and an Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business, and has been featured in Women On Topp. We are an independent advisory firm and are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, or any loan servicer, and we never guarantee a specific award, approval, or forgiveness outcome.
How much does Financial Aid Network cost?
Engagements begin with a $100 in-depth review, where we look at your situation across admissions, financial aid, scholarships, and loan repayment and show you specifically where the opportunities are. Service pricing after that depends on what you need, and we quote it after the review rather than before, because the right scope is not knowable until someone has actually read your documents.
Still have a question?
Someone answers every call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If your situation is not covered here, that is usually a sign it needs a real conversation rather than a paragraph.