economy
More than 576,000 student loan borrowers in backlog for affordable repayment plans, court filing shows
More than half a million federal student loan borrowers remain in a backlog of applications for an affordable repayment plan, a court filing revealed.
TL;DR
- Over 576,000 federal student loan borrowers have pending applications for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans.
- No student loan debts were forgiven under IDR plans in February.
- Another 88,170 borrowers are waiting for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) buyback applications to be processed.
- The Biden administration's PSLF buyback option allows borrowers to retroactively pay missed months due to forbearance or deferment.
- The backlog for IDR applications has decreased since July, but the PSLF buyback backlog is growing.
- It could take nearly three years to clear the current backlog at the current processing rate.
- Over 7 million borrowers are in forbearance after lawsuits halted the SAVE plan.
- Around 9 million borrowers were in default as of December 2025.
- Many borrowers find their monthly payments make it difficult to cover basic needs.