Can the SOAR Act Rescue the SAVE Student Loan Plan? Expert Advice for Borrowers

Can the SAVE student loan plan be saved? Democratic lawmakers are attempting a rescue. 

Led by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Tim Kaine, a group of Democrats put forth the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) Act, which would codify President Joe Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan and offer new protections for student loan borrowers. 

"I'm proud to introduce the SOAR Act, legislation that would codify, expand and strengthen the SAVE Plan to help student borrowers design a monthly student loan repayment plan that works for them," Kaine said in a statement posted on Merkley's website. 

With a Republican majority in the House and Senate, however, the SOAR plan is unlikely to gain traction. 

"It has no chance of passage in a Republican-controlled Congress," said financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz. "Borrowers should not count on it."

The SAVE plan has been nearing its demise and Kantrowitz says it "has no hope of resurrection." This affordable student loan repayment plan offered a financial lifeline for millions of borrowers who will have to seek an alternative repayment plan. With the end of SAVE nearing, borrowers are likely to see their payments increase and chances for loan forgiveness dwindle. 

What would the SOAR Act student loan plan offer?

The SOAR Act would create a new income-driven repayment plan that would build on the SAVE plan. Some of its key features include: 

• More affordable monthly payments: This plan would offer $0 monthly payments if your income were at or below 250% of the federal poverty line. This is a more generous calculation than the SAVE plan, which protected income at or below 225% of the poverty guideline. If you make more than that amount, you'd pay 5% of your discretionary income toward undergraduate loans and 10% toward graduate loans. 

• Shorter repayment timeline: SOAR would offer loan forgiveness after 10 years if you went to college for two years or less. For other borrowers, SOAR would forgive loans after 15 years. The SAVE plan offered loan forgiveness starting at 10 years for borrowers who borrowed $12,000 or less, but the time frame for forgiveness went as long as 25 years, depending on your balance and loan type. 

• Interest benefits: Similar to SAVE, the SOAR plan would cover unpaid interest from month to month. Additionally, it would apply half your monthly payment to your loan's principal amount. The other half would go to charges and collections costs, interest and principal balance (in that order) so that you could see your balance go down each month. 

• More loans eligible: SOAR would accept all federal loan types, including Parent PLUS loans. Parent PLUS loans were not eligible for SAVE, even if they were consolidated first. 

How does this affect PSLF?

Paying off your loans on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan is required for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives loans after 10 years of public service. The SOAR plan would work in tandem with PSLF as a qualifying repayment plan. 

"This will strengthen the educator pipeline and other careers that lead to public sector jobs that provide essential services for every community, especially in rural and underserved areas," said Marc Egan, Director of Government Relations at the National Education Association.

If you're pursuing PSLF, however, don't count on SOAR becoming law. You'll need to get your loans on another IDR plan to qualify for forgiveness. If you've already reached the 10-year mark, you could also explore the PSLF Buyback program. 

This program lets you "buy back" credit for months that your loans were in an ineligible deferment or forbearance status. If your SAVE plan loans ended up in forbearance this past year, you may be able to count those months toward the PSLF requirement through this PSLF Buyback. 

Is there any hope for SAVE?

The fate of SAVE is not looking promising. Introduced by the Biden administration in 2023, this income-driven repayment plan, which offered the most affordable student loan payments of any IDR was swiftly blocked by seven Republican-led states. 

If you're enrolled in SAVE, your loans were put in an interest-free forbearance while the legal challenges played out in court. In February 2025, an appeals court blocked the SAVE plan, siding with the states that called it executive overreach. 

That means your student loan payments will likely resume soon, and you may have to choose an alternative repayment plan. Options include the standard 10-year plan, Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), Income-Based Repayment (IBR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE). 

As a result of the court's ruling, ICR and PAYE also no longer lead to loan forgiveness. For now, the IBR plan is the only one that could forgive your loans after 20 or 25 years of repayment, depending on when you borrowed. 

What can I do if I'm a SAVE borrower?

If you're a SAVE borrower, you'll likely see your payments restart soon. Being proactive can help you prepare for this new financial reality. Some steps you can take include: 

• Check your student loan status: Sign into your accounts or contact your loan servicer to find out the status of your loans. Make note of your balance, interest rate, monthly payment amount and payment due dates. Ensure that your loan servicer has your updated contact information so you don't miss any important communications. 

• Compare your repayment plan options: These include standard repayment, graduated repayment and income-driven plans. You can use this Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator to compare your monthly payments and interest charges on each plan. 

• Reevaluate your budget: Check in with your finances to prepare for upcoming student loan bills. If the payments are unaffordable, consider ways to reduce them, such as applying for IDR or refinancing for better rates (note that refinancing federal loans turns them private and thus ineligible for PSLF). Depending on your circumstances, you may consider pausing payments for longer through deferment or forbearance. 

By taking action on your student loans now, you can hit the ground running when your student loan payments resume.