EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FORMALLY ENDS SAVE REPAYMENT PLAN AFTER COURT VACATES RULE

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 9th

The U.S. Department of Education has formally ended the SAVE Plan, the income-driven repayment program introduced in 2023, after a series of federal court decisions vacated the rule and left the Department without legal authority to continue it. The announcement marks the complete shutdown of SAVE as an active repayment option, and borrowers previously enrolled in the plan are now being redirected into other repayment structures.

This article presents only what can be confirmed through first-hand federal sources and clearly separates verified information from the secondary reporting that has discussed the policy’s broader ramifications.

Federal court records, the Department’s own public statements, and prior injunction orders confirm that SAVE was never a statute passed by Congress; it was a regulatory framework created by the Department under its existing authority to administer income-driven repayment. Multiple federal courts ultimately concluded the rule exceeded the authority granted under the Higher Education Act. The UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT vacated the rule earlier this year, and the Department’s announcement today acknowledges that the legal foundation for SAVE is gone.

In its official statement, the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION said that the district court rulings issued in 2024 had already blocked several SAVE provisions, including the reduced five-percent income calculation and early forgiveness for low-balance borrowers. Those injunctions were followed by the appellate ruling striking down the entire regulation. The Department’s announcement explains that it will now wind down all SAVE accounts and transition affected borrowers into existing repayment programs permitted under federal law.

The Department emphasized in its release that SAVE’s termination is the direct result of the court’s decision to vacate the regulation. Without a controlling rule, the Department cannot continue to apply SAVE’s terms, cap interest accumulation, or offer the accelerated forgiveness pathways that the plan once allowed.

Because SAVE was a regulation rather than legislation, it never underwent the statutory review processes required of new federal programs. It also did not trigger a formal CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE analysis, meaning no official federal cost projection was published at the time the plan was introduced. This regulatory structure made SAVE more vulnerable to legal challenge, and once the courts determined its forgiveness provisions exceeded statutory limits, the entire rule was invalidated.

While commentary surrounding SAVE’s collapse includes many predictions about economic outcomes, it is important to note that federal agencies have not published first-hand data demonstrating clear economic benefits resulting directly from the plan’s elimination. No governmental study or budget office report has yet stated that ending SAVE will improve federal fiscal stability, reduce deficits, or produce measurable macroeconomic gains. Those claims remain speculative and are not part of the federal documents released to date.

What can be stated as verified fact is that the federal government is no longer obligated to honor SAVE’s forgiveness structure or interest-suppression mechanisms. For borrowers, this means higher monthly payments and standard interest accrual under existing repayment plans. For the federal budget, it means that the liabilities associated with SAVE’s long-term forgiveness promises are no longer active obligations. These conditions are confirmed by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION in today’s release and by the federal court rulings that vacated the rule.

The Department says it will provide updated guidance over the coming weeks as borrowers are transferred into repayment programs that operate under current federal law. No timeline was provided for when all account transitions will be complete, and no new rule has been proposed to replace SAVE. The Department stated only that it is “reviewing options consistent with the court’s ruling.”

At the Appalachian Post, our responsibility is to present the federal record as it stands: SAVE has been vacated by the courts, its regulatory foundation has been removed, and the Department of Education has officially terminated the plan in accordance with those rulings. Because no first-hand federal study has evaluated the economic effects of its removal, any discussion of benefits or long-term impacts must remain clearly separate from verified reporting until additional government data is released.

The Appalachian Post is an independent West Virginia news outlet dedicated to clean, verified, first-hand reporting. We do not publish rumors. We do not run speculation. Every fact we present must be supported by original documentation, official statements, or direct evidence. When secondary sources are used, we clearly identify them and never treat them as first-hand confirmation. We avoid loaded language, emotional framing, or accusatory wording, and we do not attack individuals, organizations, or other news outlets. Our role is to report only what can be verified through first-hand sources and allow readers to form their own interpretations. If we cannot confirm a claim using original evidence, we state clearly that we reviewed first-hand sources and could not find documentation confirming it. Our commitment is simple: honest reporting, transparent sourcing, and zero speculation.

Primary First-Hand Sources

• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION official statement confirming the SAVE Plan has been vacated and directing borrowers into other repayment programs
• UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ruling striking down the SAVE regulation as exceeding statutory authority under the Higher Education Act
• U.S. DISTRICT COURT injunction orders (2024) blocking core provisions of SAVE before the appellate ruling

Secondary Attribution-Based Sources

• Forbes reporting summarizing the settlement, borrower impact, and transition details
• KOSU (NPR affiliate) reporting on SAVE’s features and the legal challenges affecting repayment structures
• NBC Los Angeles / NBC News reporting on SAVE’s design, repayment calculations, and legal barriers surrounding implementation