Income Driven Repayment Plan Request for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Programs

The Department of Education (Department) is requesting a revision of the information collection, 1845-0102. Section 493C of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (the HEA), authorizes the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan for borrowers who obtain student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Section 455(d) of the HEA authorizes income-contingent repayment plans for borrowers who obtain student loans through the Direct Loan Program. The regulations that govern the IBR plan are in 34 CFR 682.215 and 685.221. The regulations that govern the income-contingent repayment plans are in 34 CFR 685.209. There are two income-contingent repayment plans: the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan, and the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan. These plans are collectively referred to as Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans. In 2021, the Secretary initiated a negotiated rulemaking process to create a new IDR plan. As a result of these negotiations, a final Rule was published July 10, 2023, introducing the Saving on an Affordable Education (SAVE) Plan as a replacement for the REPAYE Plan and making additional changes to all IDR plans to make them more consistent. An injunction was initially filed on August 9, that prevented the implementation of the provisions specific to the SAVE Plan and on February 18, 2025, the injunction was expanded to enjoin the entirety of the Final Rule that went into effect July 1, 2024, which included provisions that had already been implemented related to the other IDR plans. Under the statute, a borrower who wishes to repay under an Income Contingent or Income Based repayment plan must annually provide their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A borrower must also annually certify their family size. If a borrower’s AGI is not available, or if the borrower believes that their current AGI does not reasonably reflect their current income, regulations allow that they may provide alternative documentation of income for purposes of determining whether they (1) qualify for the repayment plan requested, (2) qualify to continue making income-driven payments, and (3) calculate their monthly payment amount. The Department is updating the IDR Request Form that is used by a borrower to enroll, recertify, or change their IDR plan to support the provisions identified by the court injunction issued February 18, 2025. Specifically, the form is being updated to remove the SAVE plan as an option for borrowers to select and remove the other early-implemented components of the Final Rule that apply to the other IDR plans (i.e., revert the definition of family size to the pre- July 1, 2024, definition for all IDR plans and remove references to interest subsidy during repayment), additional updates to improve clarity and the borrower experience as a result of these changes have also been made.

The latest form for Income Driven Repayment Plan Request for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Programs expires 2028-12-31 and can be found here.