Temporary pause leaves long‑term borrowers in limbo while systems are overhauled. For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education has halted discharges under the Income‑Based Repayment (IBR) plan, the only income‑driven option untouched by ongoing lawsuits.
Officials say forgiveness will restart once internal software can correctly count qualifying payments—yet they have offered no timeline. Roughly 1.5 million longtime IBR participants, many already past the 20‑ or 25‑year mark, are now waiting for relief.
Why the department paused IBR forgiveness even without a court mandate
IBR’s pause is not tied to any injunction. Instead, the agency cites a need to “accurately count months not affected by the SAVE injunction.” That legal fight froze the newer SAVE plan last summer and, by extension, complicated shared counting rules across income‑driven programs. Still, Congress wrote IBR separately, and courts have never questioned its forgiveness authority. Frustrated? You’re not alone—advocacy groups argue borrowers are paying the price for bureaucratic housekeeping.
What recent court rulings mean for other income‑driven repayment options? A trio of Republican‑led lawsuits stalled SAVE, PAYE, and ICR forgiveness, but IBR technically remains lawful. Even so, the department’s broader system update has pulled the plug on all four programs for now. The chart below shows the current landscape as of July 2025.
| Income‑driven plan | Forgiveness status | Earliest discharge term | Court injunction? |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAVE | Paused | 20/25 years | Yes |
| ICR | Paused | 25 years | Yes |
| PAYE | Paused | 20 years | Yes |
| IBR | Paused (systems) | 20/25 years | No |
Although Congress recently passed the “Big, Beautiful Bill” creating a future Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), today’s borrowers may stay in IBR. RAP will not allow forgiveness until 30 years of repayment, underscoring why many recipients are eager to see the current pause lifted.
Steps borrowers can take today while awaiting the department’s system fix
So, what can you do now?
- Document your payment count. Keep records of every month you believe should qualify toward the 20‑ or 25‑year threshold.
- Request a no‑interest administrative forbearance. If you have already crossed the finish line, ask your servicer to place loans on hold until discharges resume. Interest will accrue, but you avoid making unnecessary payments.
- Consider consolidating strategically. Consolidation can reset the clock, so use this only if you need to merge multiple loans before RAP replaces PAYE and ICR.
Borrowers who continue paying under IBR may eventually receive refunds for any installments made beyond the statutory limit, although the timing is uncertain. On the other hand, skipping payments without a formal forbearance could trigger delinquency and credit damage. Consequently, staying in close contact with your servicer is essential.
The pause on IBR forgiveness stems from technology, not the courts, yet its impact is real for hundreds of thousands of debt‑weary graduates. Keep meticulous records, weigh forbearance carefully, and watch for the department’s next update—whenever it finally arrives.