In June 2024, the Department of Education intensified its promotion of the new SAVE plan, a repayment strategy designed to fully replace REPAYE. Announced via studentaid.gov/save on June 12, 2024, the plan promised lower monthly payments and dramatically improved interest subsidies, instantly capturing the attention of borrowers pursuing PSLF.
As SAVE highlighted payments at just 5% of discretionary income for undergraduate loans, public service workers rushed to apply. The DOE reported in webinars that more than three-quarters of borrowers could see reductions in their monthly bills compared to older IDR plans. This created a wave of early conversions throughout June as teachers, nonprofit staff, and local government employees scrambled to secure their new payments.
On June 18, 2024, MarketWatch ran case studies showing how borrowers were cutting payments by hundreds of dollars each month, providing crucial breathing room in tight budgets. Meanwhile, the DOE updated the PSLF Help Tool on June 22, integrating SAVE estimates so borrowers could see exactly how quickly they might reach forgiveness.
While enthusiasm was high, financial advisors reminded borrowers to carefully verify that their new SAVE enrollments linked properly to PSLF. Even small paperwork glitches could temporarily disconnect payments from forgiveness tracking. June ultimately became a month of both opportunity and caution, as millions sought to balance lower bills with airtight compliance.