Medical professionals such as physicians and dentists carry the highest average student loan burden of any professional groups. As such, it’s no surprise that members of our online communities for doctors are watching the news intently for guidance on how to approach their federal student loans in 2025, at a time where much is changing in the space. Many physicians are counting on federal student loan forgiveness programs such as PSLF, and even if they’re not going for forgiveness, worry about how their payments may be affected in Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans such as Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE, formerly known as REPAYE), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). While nobody has a crystal ball and you should always refer to studentaid.gov and other official resources for more information, we’ll try to keep you updated on the latest news below. The information below is current to the best of our knowledge as of March 5, 2025.
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What is happening with federal student loan repayment and forgiveness programs in 2025 under the new administration, and when can we expect updates?
It is clear that significant changes are happening across the federal government, including involving the Department of Education and student loan repayment and forgiveness programs. While PSLF has not been touched yet, a ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals related to the legality of the SAVE plan has resulted in the Department of Education taking down applications for all of the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, including SAVE, IBR, PAYE, and ICR. This affects literally millions with federal student loan debt who count on IDR to keep monthly payments affordable and manageable, as well as halts their progress towards the loan forgiveness many have been working towards. At this time, there is no formal timeline that has been given for when the issue will be resolved. There are reports that it could be 90 days or longer, and even when resolved, the backlog of applications may result in further delays.
What is the ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals about SAVE, and how does it affect other IDR programs?
Essentially, a lawsuit had been filed that challenged whether the SAVE plan was legal, and the previous injunction blocking SAVE was extended in March. Those enrolled in SAVE have been stuck in a forbearance period. Although some may appreciate that this stops their payments and the accrual of interest, the bigger issue that concerns many enrolled in loan forgiveness programs is that they are not making progress towards student loan forgiveness during this time. This is a big difference from when loans were in forbearance during the COVID 19 pandemic, where borrowers were still getting credit for the time that counted towards forgiveness despite not having to make payments. This is particularly vexing for those who have made decisions to work at institutions eligible for those counting on forgiveness on a particular time frame, or who were due to receive forgiveness during this time.Â
In addition, the court also questioned whether existing older programs such as ICR and PAYE were legal avenues to loan forgiveness. They did not question IBR or PSLF, but this ruling still resulted in the Department of Education taking down processing for all IDR plans, even those that had already been applied for prior to this ruling, ostensibly because the application for all IDR programs is the same form, which now needs revisions.
What about applications that have already been submitted?
According to the Washington Post, the Department of Education has also issued a stop order on processing all IDR applications, regardless of which plan and whether or not it was addressed by the courts in this ruling. This means that anybody who was mid-switch to another plan so that they could continue to accumulate credit towards loan forgiveness through PSLF or another IDR plan is also currently in limbo.
How does this affect people enrolled in PSLF?
Although nobody has said that PSLF is under question at this time, the issue is that participation in PSLF requires that you are enrolled in an IDR plan. Since the site is down, those that are pursuing PSLF aren’t able to either enter the program, or, if they are currently enrolled in a program that is being called into question, switch to another program.
If you are on a non-SAVE IDR plan, you should in theory continue to get credit for PSLF as long as you continue to make payments and are in a PSLF eligible job. But if you are on SAVE, you can’t currently switch programs until the application process is back up.
What about income recertification and related timelines?
This is posing a huge problem for many borrowers who are due to recertify their income. This is a requirement for those that are enrolled in IDR plans, because it determines their monthly payments. People who don’t recertify their income on time can have various consequences to interest rates and how high their payments can go. One particularly concerning one is that in the case of IBR, if your updated income information isn’t processed on time, there can be unpaid interest capitalization.Unfortunately, the method to recertify their income necessitates submitting the IDR application, which can’t currently be done. It is unclear whether those servicing the loans will give them a pass for this, and there are accounts that people are being pressured into situations that result in higher interest rates or payments, such as being forced to switch to a non-IDR plan or go into a very costly forbearance that won’t give them credit towards loan forgiveness. For physicians especially, these non-IDR plans could result in very high payments.
What should physicians and other borrowers do while they wait for more information and updates on PSLF, SAVE, and the IDR application process?
Suggestions that have been made includeÂ
Stay in touch with your loan servicer and pay attention to updates from them, as well as from the Department of Education. Make sure your contact information is up to date with both your loan servicer and in your studentaid.gov account so that you don’t miss relevant communication.
Know when your income recertification is due and contact the loan servicer to learn about your options.
Keep meticulous records of your qualifying payments, and print out all the records that you can from studentaid.gov, including any PDFs or documents from the My Activity section in your dashboard.
Make sure that your employer is PSLF eligible and keep your certification form updated.
Don’t make hasty decisions. Millions of people are in the same situation as you, so stay calm. Whatever solutions or updates come will have to address all of these people so there will have to be more guidance and solutions that are politically acceptable.
Consider turning off the autopay feature in case your loan servicer changes your payments automatically
Is Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) going away?
No concrete statements have been made about an intention to get rid of PSLF. Note that PSLF is written into the law, and therefore cannot be eliminated without Congressional action. Even if new enrollments into PSLF are stopped by termination of the program, the current widespread belief is that those who have been grandfathered into PSLF will be able to finish their time in the program and recieve forgiveness. Although nobody has a crystal ball, it is felt that it would be politically very unpopular to change the rules on those who have made big life decisions such as what jobs to take based on the understanding and promise that their loans would be forgiven if they successfully completed the requirements of the program.
What else is in the pipeline for those pursuing loan forgiveness, particularly through PSLF?
One thing that many physicians are worried about is the rumor that the non-profit status of hospital systems is being scrutinized. If hospitals were to lose their non-profit status, this would severely obstruct many physicians who are counting on PSLF from being able to obtain it, regardless of the status of PSLF nationally.
Additionally, widely expected cuts towards the Department of Education may make the entire process more stressful. If less people are employed by the Department of Education, applications may take longer to process and it may be harder to get answers to questions. This may also extend to contracted loan servicers. Rumors of dismantling of the Department and the implications for the process have also understandably been the cause of much speculation and anxiety.
Conclusion
Ultimately, it’s a very nerveracking time if you’re a physician or other individual with federal student loans, and there’s not much that we can say to alleviate those fears. Just know that you are in it alongside many other people, and that the best thing you can do right now is to stay vigilant about keeping track of updates. We’ll try our best to keep this page updated, but you should always check official sources of information such as the Department of Education, studentaid.gov, and your loan servicer, and consult with advisors as necessary, prior to making any decisions.