Parent PLUS Borrowers: Act ASAP to Keep Income-Driven Repayment
Borrowers must consolidate their loans by April 1, or risk losing lower payments and potential forgiveness.
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Unless they act soon, millions of parent PLUS borrowers risk losing access to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and student loan forgiveness. Borrowers must consolidate their existing loans to preserve pathways to lower payments and forgiveness, and the consolidation loan must be complete (not just in process) by July 1, 2026.
The Education Department (ED) recommends that parent PLUS borrowers submit their application for a new direct consolidation loan by April 1, to ensure processing is complete by the July 1 deadline. Typically consolidation applications are processed in 4-6 weeks, but that timeframe could expand with a reduced ED workforce and increase in applications.
Parent PLUS borrowers who miss the consolidation deadline will have their loans automatically placed on the standard repayment plan. At that point, all access to income-driven repayment is lost, eliminating one of the most flexible ways to manage loan payments and any chance of loan forgiveness.
The end to income-driven repayment for parent PLUS loans is one of many student loan changes coming from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). If you have parent PLUS loans, here’s what you need to know to maintain access to IDR options.
What is student loan consolidation?
Consolidation of student loans is defined as replacing multiple federal student loans with a single direct consolidation federal loan. It can help simplify repayment and, in some cases, allow borrowers to access federal repayment plans or forgiveness programs that weren’t available on their original loans.
Why should parents choose an income-driven repayment plan?
Enrolling in IDR acts as insurance against tough times. Since IDR payments are tied to your income, if your earnings drop or you retire, your loan payment amount will likely fall. Your payments could be as little as $0 if your income is low enough. IDR also allows you to qualify for student loan forgiveness.
What to know about parent PLUS loan eligibility for IDR
Here are parent PLUS loan changes and critical deadlines to maintain access to IDR.
- Currently, the only income-driven repayment plan that parent PLUS borrowers have access to is Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). Parent PLUS borrowers are already required to consolidate into a federal direct consolidation loan to enroll in ICR.
- ICR also provides a path to Public Student Loan Forgiveness for eligible borrowers, but the ICR plan is slated to phase out by July 1, 2028.
- For the first time, parent PLUS borrowers in ICR will become eligible for the slightly more generous Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan, which also allows access to PSLF. They can enroll in IBR prior to July 1, 2028, or wait to be automatically switched.
- In addition to consolidating, parent PLUS borrowers must make at least one payment on the ICR plan before July 1, 2028, to keep access to income-driven repayment.
Important deadlines for parent PLUS IDR eligibility
| Deadline | Action required |
|---|---|
| April 1, 2026 | Apply to consolidate parent PLUS student loans. |
| July 1, 2026 | Complete student loan consolidation process. This means the consolidation loan must be disbursed (not just in process) prior to July 1. |
| Before July 1, 2028 | Enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan. Make at least one full payment to be eligible for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. |
| July 1, 2028 | Any parent PLUS borrowers remaining on ICR will be automatically enrolled in IBR. |
If you miss consolidating your parent PLUS loans and enrolling in ICR by the required deadlines, you’ll be permanently blocked from income-driven repayment and student loan forgiveness.
4 steps for parent PLUS borrowers to take
1. Check your loan type and repayment plan
Log into your studentaid.gov account. On your dashboard, confirm that you have parent PLUS loans. Check to see if your loans are already consolidated and which repayment plan you’re currently on.
If you’re already enrolled in the ICR plan, that means you already consolidated your parent PLUS loans and don’t need to repeat the process. Skip to step 4.
2. Consolidate your parent PLUS loans ASAP
Consolidate your parent PLUS loans on studentaid.gov/loan-consolidation/. Your consolidation must be processed and disbursed before July 1, 2026, so you should apply no later than April 1.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
Consolidating student loans through the ED does not cost you anything. Don’t pay a company that claims it can “help” you for a fee. 3. Select the ICR plan on your consolidation application or enroll in ICR before July 1, 2028
You must enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan to retain access to Income-Based Repayment (IBR). You can select ICR when filling out your consolidation application and immediately move into the ICR plan. Or, you can wait, but you must enroll in ICR before July 1, 2028, when the plan is expected to close.
4. Make at least one ICR payment before July 1, 2028, to be eligible for IBR
You must make at least one, full on-time payment while on the ICR plan to be eligible for switching to IBR.
If IBR is a better option for you than ICR, you can go ahead and switch to it before July 2028. Make the required ICR payment, and then submit an application on studentaid.gov/IDR/ to switch to the IBR plan. If you have any issues submitting the application, contact your student loan servicer.
You can also choose to stay on ICR, but you will be moved to IBR automatically when the ICR plan ends.
Comparing student loan repayment plans
For parent Plus borrowers, the ICR plan is currently the only income-driven repayment option available to you. But, after enrolling in it, you can switch to IBR. If you don't consolidate your loans by July 1, 2026, you will be placed in the standard repayment plan. If you consolidate and remain on the ICR plan, you will be automatically switched to IBR when the ICR plan ends (by July 1, 2028).
| Feature | ICR plan | IBR plan | Standard repayment plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly payment cap | Up to 20% of discretionary income. | 10% or 15% of income, depending on when you borrowed.* | Fixed payment based on loan balance. |
| Repayment term | 25 years. | 20 or 25 years, depending on when you borrowed.* | 10 years for loans taken out prior to July 1, 2026. New loans after that date could be 10, 15, 20 or 25 years, depending on the amount owed. |
| Forgiveness eligibility | Payments will count toward IBR forgiveness. ICR ending by July 1, 2028. | Remaining balance may be forgiven after the repayment term. | No forgiveness. |
| *If you have pre-2014 Parent PLUS loans, you’ll qualify for the lower payments and shorter term on the IBR plan. | |||
The ED’s loan simulator helps you compare your estimated payments for ICR, IBR and the standard repayment plan.
What happens if you borrow parent PLUS loans after July 1, 2026
New parent PLUS borrowers (those without existing parent PLUS loans) will only have access to the standard repayment plan.
For existing parent PLUS borrowers, taking out a parent PLUS loan on or after July 1, 2026, will make all your parent PLUS loans ineligible for income-driven repayment — even your older loans. You’ll only be eligible for the standard repayment plan, because all student loans must be repaid under the same plan.
For example, say you took out one parent PLUS loan in 2023, and then decide to borrow another parent PLUS loan in 2027. You must use the standard repayment plan for all of your loans.
Starting July 1, 2026, parent PLUS loans will also see new borrowing limits:
- Up to $20,000 per year, per student.
- Up to $65,000 total, per student.
If you took out a parent PLUS loan prior to July 1, 2026, you can continue borrowing up to your student’s cost of attendance for up to three years, or until your student finishes school — whichever period is shorter.
» MORE: Best student loans for parents
How to get parent PLUS loan help
Keep copies of your student loan records, including copies of your bill payments, consolidation application and IDR application. If you contact your servicer at any point, take notes and save copies of any written correspondence. This will come in handy if any issues arise, or if your servicer makes a mistake and you need to make a student loan complaint.
Consolidating and switching repayment plans can be a confusing process — especially as Trump’s recent budget bill reshapes the federal student loan system.
You can get free, trusted parent PLUS help through your student loan servicer. If you need additional guidance, consider these resources:
- Your child’s financial aid office, even if they’ve already left school.
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