Student Loans & PSLF
The SAVE Plan Is Gone: What Physicians in Repayment Should Do Now
By the Attend Wealth team · Updated August 2026 · 8 min read
If you are a physician who enrolled in SAVE during training and has not touched it since, this is the most time-sensitive item in your financial life right now.
Quick answer
The SAVE Plan was eliminated following litigation. Starting July 1, 2026, servicers began notifying enrolled borrowers, who were given 90 days to choose another plan. Physicians pursuing PSLF must switch to a qualifying income-driven plan to keep earning credit. The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) qualifies for PSLF; the new Tiered Standard Plan does not.
What actually happened
The Saving on a Valuable Education plan was eliminated after an extended court battle. Beginning July 1, 2026, borrowers still enrolled began receiving servicer notifications and were given a 90-day window to select a different repayment plan.
The Department of Education introduced the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, which became available July 1, 2026, alongside a new Tiered Standard Plan. The distinction between those two matters enormously to anyone pursuing forgiveness.
PSLF itself did not change
This is the part that causes unnecessary panic. Public Service Loan Forgiveness remains intact and the 120-payment, ten-year structure is unchanged. Physicians at qualifying nonprofit and government employers still have the same path to forgiveness they had before.
What changed is which repayment plans generate qualifying payments. RAP qualifies for PSLF. The Tiered Standard Plan does not. A physician who is auto-migrated or who selects the wrong plan can continue making payments every month and accrue zero PSLF credit, which is the specific failure mode to avoid.
The timeline you are operating against
For borrowers taking out federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, only two options exist: the Tiered Standard Plan and RAP. That applies to current medical students and incoming interns with new disbursements.
For existing borrowers, PAYE and ICR close after July 1, 2028, at which point IBR and RAP will be the only income-driven plans remaining. Physicians currently on PAYE have a planning window rather than an emergency, but it is a finite one.
- SAVE eliminated; enrolled borrowers given 90 days from servicer notification to switch
- RAP available July 1, 2026 and qualifies for PSLF
- Tiered Standard Plan does not qualify for PSLF
- New borrowers on or after July 1, 2026 have only Tiered Standard and RAP
- PAYE and ICR close after July 1, 2028, leaving IBR and RAP
What a physician should do this month
Log into your servicer account and confirm which plan you are actually on, rather than which plan you believe you are on. Migration and administrative forbearance during the litigation period moved a lot of borrowers without their close attention.
Then confirm your PSLF payment count directly, and re-certify employment if you have not done so in the past year. If your count looks lower than your months of qualifying employment, that gap is worth resolving now rather than at month 118.
Where the resident-versus-attending analysis differs
For a resident at a nonprofit academic center, income-driven payments during training are small and PSLF credit accrues while income is low, which is what makes forgiveness so valuable for physicians specifically. Ten years of qualifying payments that begin in intern year can complete partway through an attending career.
For an attending in private practice with no qualifying employer, forgiveness is generally not the path, and the analysis shifts to refinancing versus aggressive payoff. Those are different articles and different decisions, but the first step is identical: confirm your current plan and count.
A caution about older guidance
A great deal of physician student loan content published before mid-2026, including some still ranking well, describes SAVE as the default recommendation for residents. That advice is now actively harmful.
Check the publication date on anything you read about federal repayment, including our own older articles, and verify against studentaid.gov and your servicer before acting.
Related physician planning questions
Is the SAVE plan still available?
No. SAVE was eliminated following litigation. Beginning July 1, 2026, servicers began notifying enrolled borrowers, who were given 90 days to select a different repayment plan.
Does PSLF still exist in 2026?
Yes. PSLF remains intact and the 120-payment, ten-year structure is unchanged. What changed is which repayment plans generate qualifying payments. The Repayment Assistance Plan qualifies; the new Tiered Standard Plan does not.
What is the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)?
RAP is a new income-driven repayment plan introduced by the Department of Education, available beginning July 1, 2026. It qualifies for PSLF. For borrowers taking federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, RAP and the Tiered Standard Plan are the only two options.
What happens to PAYE and ICR?
PAYE and ICR close after July 1, 2028. After that date, IBR and RAP will be the only income-driven repayment plans available.
What should a physician on SAVE do first?
Log into your servicer account to confirm which plan you are actually on, verify your PSLF payment count, and re-certify employment if you have not in the past year. Do not assume your plan or count is what you last remember.
Related insights
- PSLF 2026: A Physician's Guide
- PSLF for Doctors: A Complete Guide
- Physician Student Loan Forgiveness Options
- Browse the full archive
Sources
- NYC Dept. of Consumer and Worker Protection — Key Changes in Federal Student Loan Repayment (accessed August 2026)
- Tate Law (student loan analysis) — PSLF Changes in 2026: What Changed July 1, What Didn't, and What to Do Now (accessed August 2026)
- Tate Law (student loan analysis) — Is IBR Going Away? What's Happening to IDR Plans in 2026 (SAVE, PAYE, ICR & RAP) (accessed August 2026)
- The College of New Jersey, Office of Financial Aid — Update on Federal Loan Changes Beginning in 2026 (accessed August 2026)
Figures current as of August 7, 2026. Contribution limits, tax thresholds, and federal loan program rules change; verify against the primary source before acting.
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Attend Wealth helps physicians connect planning, taxes, investing, insurance, and retirement decisions into one strategy. If you want help applying this topic to your own loans, taxes, investments, or retirement plan, schedule a complimentary conversation.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Attend Wealth is a registered investment adviser and acts as a fiduciary to its advisory clients. Attend Wealth is fee-based: in addition to advisory fees, our advisors are licensed insurance professionals and may receive commissions on insurance policies placed through carriers including Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas, Principal, The Standard, and Lloyd's. That compensation creates a conflict of interest. We describe it, and how we address it, in our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or on request. Please consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.