Hispanic Students Listening to a Lecturer student classroom writing

Student loan borrowers have 51 days to pick a new repayment plan — miss the July 1 deadline and the government picks the most expensive one for you

A borrower earning $45,000 a year with $35,000 in federal student loan debt could pay roughly $350 to $400 a month under the government’s default repayment schedule. Under an income-driven plan, that same borrower might owe closer to $150 to $200. The difference is real, and it kicks in on July 1, 2025, when the…

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woman in black and white shirt and orange shorts leaning on white car during daytime

New car payments hit $773 a month — up 53% from $506 in 2018 — and 22.9% of auto loans now stretch to seven years or longer

The average monthly payment on a new car loan in the United States has reached $773, according to Edmunds’ quarterly auto financing data. In 2018, that figure was $506. The 53% jump did not happen because Americans suddenly developed a taste for gold-plated bumpers. It happened because vehicle prices climbed, interest rates roughly doubled, and…

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a woman in a graduation cap throwing papers in the air

Student loan borrowers have 53 days to pick a new repayment plan — miss the July 1 deadline and you get auto-enrolled in the most expensive option

The clock is ticking for millions of federal student loan borrowers, and the math is unforgiving. If you are among the estimated 8 million people who enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, that plan is being shut down. Starting July 1, 2025, loan servicers will begin sending notices giving each borrower 90 days to choose…

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Student loan borrowers have 55 days to pick a new repayment plan — miss the July 1 deadline and you get auto-enrolled in the most expensive option

About 7.5 million federal student loan borrowers are still technically enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, a plan the U.S. Department of Education now calls “unlawful” and has moved to kill. Starting July 1, 2026, loan servicers will begin mailing notices that force a decision: choose a new repayment plan within 90 days of receiving…

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Graduates toss caps in the air celebrating

Student loan borrowers have 57 days to pick a new repayment plan — or get auto-enrolled in the most expensive option

A borrower earning $40,000 a year with $50,000 in federal student loans could go from paying nothing each month to owing more than $500, practically overnight, if they miss a fast-approaching deadline. That is the reality facing roughly 8 million people who were enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan before the U.S. Department of Education…

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picture of stressed student with computer at home

Student loan borrowers have 57 days to pick a new repayment plan or get auto-enrolled in the most expensive option — here’s what to do

Roughly 7.5 million federal student loan borrowers are about to face a decision that could reshape their monthly budgets for years. The U.S. Department of Education has declared the SAVE repayment plan unlawful and is winding it down. Starting July 1, 2026, loan servicers will begin notifying SAVE enrollees that they must choose a replacement…

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portrait concentrated asian young wife is using a calculator while thinking and planning household budget at table with a piggy bank in the living room.

The SAVE plan is dead and 7.5 million borrowers have until September 30 to pick a new repayment plan — or get defaulted into standard

For more than a year, roughly 7.5 million student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan have been frozen in place. Most were put into administrative forbearance after courts blocked the program in 2024, their monthly payments paused but their futures unresolved. That uncertainty just ended, and the outcome is worse than many of…

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Students attentively taking notes in a lecture hall.

10 million student loan borrowers are on track to default in 2026 — wage garnishment restarts this year and the SAVE plan is dead

Sometime in the next few weeks, a borrower earning $3,000 a month after taxes could open a pay stub and find $450 missing. No court hearing, no lawsuit. The federal government will have taken it directly, under rules that allow administrative wage garnishment of up to 15% of disposable income on defaulted student loans. That…

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