Student loan payments for most borrowers are expected to resume no earlier than late 2025, with a higher probability of payments restarting by mid-2026 for those on the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan. The exact timing depends on pending court rulings and actions by the Department of Education regarding transitioning borrowers off the SAVE plan into other repayment plans such as amended IBR or the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). Key points are:

• Interest on federal student loans has already resumed on August 1, 2025.
• Borrowers currently in administrative forbearance under SAVE plan may resume payments as soon as late 2025, but the most likely period is mid-2026.
• For most other federal borrowers, after the pause ended, payments restarted in October 2023, with interest resuming September 2023.
• The Department of Education expects to have the technical changes ready to transition borrowers back into repayment no sooner than September 2025, with the first payments due possibly by December 2025.
• Collections on defaulted loans resumed in May 2025 for some borrowers.
• For SAVE borrowers specifically, the transition might depend on legal outcomes and may involve migrating to new repayment plans by mid-2026.

In summary, general federal student loan payments resumed starting October 2023, but for SAVE plan borrowers and others in some special forbearances, payments are most likely to resume mid-2026, with some possibility of resume by late 2025.