Yes, you can still get forgiveness for a student loan with IBR. What do you need to know

Forgiveness options for a student loan have decreased significantly during the second administration of President Donald Trump, but the Ministry of Education says that forgiveness by repayment based on income does not go away. However, this is a pause.

The Federal Student Website says IBR’s forgiveness has been detained while the education department rethinks its system to recalculate eligible payments. « The IBR’s forgiveness will resume after these updates have been completed, » said the frequently asked questions, updated on July 9.

The key question is how the education department takes into account payments made when saving a valuable plan for the repayment of education, which was reduced by the courts earlier this year.

IBR borrowers may make the payments they have made on other income repayment plans (including Save, Paye and ICR), be reported to their forgiveness on IBR. But one of the features of Save allowed borrowers to count months in certain types of patience when they do not make payments, according to a student loan expert Mark Kantovitz.

« The decision of the 8th round of appeal blocks these additional delay and patience of counting forgiveness, » he said in an email. « So the US Department of Education will have to make changes to the number of skilled payments. »

IBR is a plan for repayment of a student loan managed by income, which adjusts monthly payments based on borrowers’ income. Eligible student loan borrowers may receive forgiveness after payments worth 20 or 25 years, depending on when they have taken out their loan. Currently, this is the only repayment plan available that offers a way to forgiveness to existing borrowers.

We will explain what can happen to IBR and what you should do if you are waiting for forgiveness for forgiveness for a student loan.

Read more: Save the borrowers on a student loan: You don’t have to move to IBR by August 1, but you might want: Here’s how to decide

Is the student loan forgiveness passing?

In the last year, many paths have disappeared to the forgiveness of the student loan. ICR, Paye and Save’s plans are no longer eligible for forgiveness, following the court’s ruling in February that Congress exceeded its powers by approving them. Since IBR is created under a different rule, this is not affected by the court’s decision.

Forgiveness via iBR must be safe for now. But it is understandable that borrowers – decrypting confusing and misleading information while waiting for forgiveness – may be skeptical of the confidence of the education department that IBR’s forgiveness is returning.

Following the court ruling in February, the application for repayment plans, managed by income, was removed from the federal student loan site, which caused concern among borrowers. But it was re -provided a month later with revisions. In theory, this can be a similar scenario where IBR’s forgiveness will resume on a later date.

When will Ibr’s forgiveness return?

Although the education department calls it « temporary », there is no indication of how long the IBR break will last. With a lag of 1.5 million applications for repayment plans and huge parts of the Ministry of Education, deleted, it is not clear how long it can take to allow the payment of payment.

The Washington Post reported that several student loan staff said the education department had not asked them to process forgiveness for borrowers in mid -January. « This not only affects the servicing loans, but also the US Department of Education, since the final approval of the loan forgiveness is processed inside, » Kantovitz said.

The Ministry of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Are there any other forgiveness options besides IBR?

In addition to IBR, existing borrowers will have another option next year under the new law, supported by Republicans, adopted earlier this month: the repayment plan.

The new repayment support plan may offer slightly lower monthly payments for some borrowers, but the plan requires 30 years of qualified payments before the loans are forgiven compared to 20 to 25 years according to the current IBR. So you will eventually pay more interest in time.

Anyone who takes student loans after July 2026 will have only two options for repayment: RAP and the standard repayment plan.

Should I still apply for IBR if I am a borrower reserved?

Millions of borrowers recorded in Save will start accumulating interest on their loans again, starting on August 1st. However, payments remain in detention, while your loans are in a common fight, which may continue until mid -2026. You are not required to switch plans until then, even during that time interest will accumulate.

However, if you decide to switch, you can compare other repayment options managed by income by using the federal student loan simulator. You can apply to switch to IDR on the FSA website to restart payments that are reported for forgiveness.

If you are applying for a new plan, expect the application to take a few months for processing due to the lag, Kantrowitz said. The department encourages the rescue of the borrowers to switch to IBR, which can mean even more volume of candidates as the deadline approaches on August 1.

What should I do if I enroll in IBR?

If you are enrolled in IBR and near or the past, the payment threshold to be eligible for forgiveness for a loan, Kantrowitz advises you to continue making payments until you receive a notification that your loans are forgiven, which should happen automatically.

« All the unnecessary payments will be refunded, » he said. « They could go into general patience, but there is a risk of incorrectly counting their skilled payments. It is better to just continue to make payments. »