Student loan borrowers, you have homework due by the end of September.
The Department of Education has warned for months of the largest overhaul of student loans in decades, including simplifying payment plans, adding loan limits and types and offering temporary relief if you become an auto-payer. If you've been procrastinating and haven't done anything yet, deadlines are approaching quickly.
If they pass, and you didn't act, you could lose certain benefits forever, student loan experts said.
"Borrowers are already carrying enough financial pressure, so when there’s an opportunity to reduce the cost of their student debt, we want to make sure they can take full advantage of it," said Ken Ruggiero, chief executive of private online student loan
lender Ascent. "Don't leave savings on the table."
Act now to save money on student loans
Some money-saving benefits are being offered, but only if you act before the end of September. They include:
- Interest savings: The U.S. Department of Education quadrupled its interest rate discount for federal student loan borrowers who enroll in autopay, raising it from 0.25% to a full 1 percentage point. The temporary benefit, only for federal student loans in repayment status, started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2028. If you haven't already enrolled, you've already missed two months of savings. However, it's not too late. The deadline to enroll is Sept. 30, which would still give you more than 18 months of savings. Borrowers should log into their account with their loan servicer and add their bank information under autopay settings to enroll.
"While that may not seem like a dramatic jump, it adds up over the life of the loan, and it's savings borrowers can't get back once the deadline passes," Ruggiero said. "Every dollar matters when you’re paying down student debt, and it’s so important that borrowers have the information they need in order to take advantage of every savings opportunity available to them."
And while the interest rate reduction may not lower a borrower's monthly payment, "it can reduce the amount of interest that accrues over time, allowing more of each payment to be applied toward the loan principal," said Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at Bright Horizons, a provider of educational advisory services.
If borrowers miss the September deadline, they can still sign up for autopay, but they'll only get the standard 0.25% reduction instead of the full 1%.
- SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education): Borrowers still enrolled in the now defunct SAVE plan should have been contacted around July 1 by their loan servicers to transition to a new payment plan within 90 days. Those 90 days are nearly up. Sept. 29 is the earliest date SAVE plan borrowers may be required to move into a new repayment plan. Each borrower's actual deadline depends on when they personally received their notice. If borrowers don't choose a new plan by their deadline, the Department of Education will automatically enroll them into one of the new plans that launched on July 1. Those plans include:
- Standard Repayment Plan: The default standard plan features fixed monthly payments and spans 10 to 30 years, depending on the loan amount and whether it's a consolidation loan, the Department of Education said.
- Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): This is an income-driven plan with payments between 1% and 10% of your adjusted gross income (or a flat $10 per month if your income is less than $10,000 per year). Forgiveness is available for balances after 30 years of repayment.
"Because the standard repayment plan typically leads to higher monthly payments, borrowers are strongly encouraged to explore and apply for other income driven plans on studentaid.gov before the expiration of the automatic deadline," MacPhetres said.
How should borrowers decide which plan to move to?
To choose a plan, MacPhetres recommends borrowers:
- Review all available repayment options.
- Compare estimated monthly payments under each plan.
- Consider both short-term affordability and long-term repayment costs.
- Eealuate whether they may benefit from programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or other repayment assistance options.
Financial aid corrections and updates are due
Any corrections or updates to the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on Sept. 12, according to the Department of Education.
Make sure you correct any incorrect information or information requested by a financial aid administrator. Also make corrections or update FAFSA if your situation has changed, it said. For example, if you or anyone in your household began receiving any federal benefits after the original form was submitted, the student’s dependency status changed any time during the award year, your family’s financial situation shifted dramatically since filing taxes or you want to add or remove colleges or career schools.
To stay on top of all your deadlines this month, "check your servicer account directly rather than waiting for a letter or a headline to tell you what applies to you specifically," Ruggiero said. "Set a calendar reminder for your own personal deadline as soon as you know it, since it may land weeks off from the general dates making news."
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: September student loan deadlines you cannot miss
