Guides
Eight notes in the order a borrower is likely to need them: the SAVE deadline first, the refinance tradeoff last. Each page cites the official source it relies on and lists what we could not verify.
- 1. SAVE Plan Ended: What to Do Now and Your 90-Day DeadlineWhat the 90-day servicer notice, the 30-day final notice, and automatic placement mean if you were on SAVE.
- 2. Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): How the Payment WorksThe AGI table, the $50 reduction for each dependent, and the $10 monthly minimum, with made-up examples.
- 3. RAP vs IBR vs Tiered Standard: Compare the PlansEligibility, how the payment is set, the length, and whether the payment counts for PSLF. Not a ranking.
- 4. RAP $50 Principal Match and Interest Waiver ExplainedThree made-up examples of the interest waiver and the matching principal rule, including the on-time definition.
- 5. Grad PLUS Eliminated: New Loan Limits and OptionsAnnual and aggregate caps for loans made on or after July 1, 2026, and who can still use the interim exception.
- 6. Parent PLUS Loan Limits and Consolidation RulesThe $20,000 annual and $65,000 per-student caps, and which income-driven plans a Parent PLUS consolidation can use.
- 7. Auto Pay 1% Interest Discount: Enroll by Dec. 31, 2026The 1% interest-rate reduction for borrowers enrolled in auto pay by December 31, 2026, and what it does not change.
- Direct Consolidation Loan: Who Can Consolidate (34 CFR)What the federal regulation says about Direct Consolidation Loans: eligible loans, borrower status, adding loans within 180 days. No refinancing.
- Consolidating Defaulted Federal Student Loans: ConditionsThe regulation lets some defaulted federal loans be consolidated if you make satisfactory repayment arrangements. Collection cost cap and exceptions.
- PSLF Employer Rule Vacated: What It Means for YouA federal court vacated the 2026 PSLF employer-eligibility rule on June 30, 2026, before it took effect. The appeal is pending. What to check.
- IDR Forgiveness Taxable in 2026? What the IRS SaysIDR forgiveness in 2026 is generally taxable income; PSLF and some others are not. What the IRS says about Form 1099-C and Form 982.
- Student Loan Interest Deduction: $2,500 Limit and PhaseoutIRS: deduct the lesser of $2,500 or interest paid; phaseout starts at $85,000 MAGI ($170,000 joint) for 2025. Worked phaseout example and who can't claim.
- Employer Student Loan Repayment: Up to $5,250 Tax-FreeIRS: an employer's educational assistance program can pay up to $5,250 a year of your student loan principal or interest without it counting as wages.
- Parent Paid Your Student Loan Interest? Who Can DeductIRS: if someone else pays interest you owe, you're treated as paying it, so you can deduct it. Dependent, parent-claimed and employer examples.
- Form 1098-E: Missing Interest, Fees, Capitalized InterestIRS: lenders send Form 1098-E when you paid $600 or more of interest, but you may deduct qualifying interest not shown, like origination fees.
- 8. Refinance Federal Student Loans or Stay Federal?What a private refinance gives up, what it might change, and why this page does not publish lender links or rates.