The Education Department is preparing to start throwing unknown numbers of student loan borrowers off of their repayment plan by the end of September, as the first key deadline for switching out of the SAVE plan is expected to expire. The looming change is the latest disruption to impact borrowers with federal student loans as major program reforms, servicer mistakes, and data glitches combine to create a perfect storm of uncertainty.

The forced repayment plan changes center on the SAVE plan, a now largely-defunct income-driven repayment program that had offered borrowers affordable payments and eventual student loan forgiveness. But after the Trump administration and the Republican-led states that had successfully challenged the program reached a settlement agreement earlier this year to terminate the popular plan, the Education Department began moving forward to force student loans off of SAVE. By the end of September, the first wave of borrowers who didn’t act in accordance with a department directive to change plans within 90 days will be involuntarily moved into Standard repayment plans, potentially with catastrophic consequences for borrowers.

Here are the latest developments on the SAVE plan transition, and what they mean for student loans.

Student Loans In SAVE Repayment Plan Will Be Kicked Out By September 29

Starting in July, the Education Department’s contracted student loan servicers began sending borrowers official notices that they had to move their student loans from SAVE to another income-driven repayment plan within 90 days. If they don’t act within that 90-day window, the department would force them onto a Standard plan.

“Borrowers who have loans in forbearance because they enrolled in or applied for the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan must select a new repayment plan,” says the department’s webpage dedicated to SAVE plan legal updates. “If you don’t select a new repayment plan, your loan servicer will move you to a different plan.”

“If you’re........

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