How to Recertify Your IDR Plan in 2025

Recertification for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans is required annually, but as of March 18, 2025, applications are temporarily unavailable on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website. The IDR recertification deadline for 2024 has passed, but we’ve seen no updates from the Department of Education regarding the 2025 deadline. 

The move follows a federal injunction blocking the implementation of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan and parts of IDR. Applications are expected to reopen sometime in 2025. To prepare for when they do, read through our helpful guide to understand how to recertify IDR plans. 

Table of Contents

1. When do I need to recertify my IDR plan in 2025?
2. How to recertify 
3. What to do if you need to recertify and can’t 
4. What happens if I miss my IDR plan renewal date? 
5. What to do if you miss your recertification deadline 
6. FAQ

When do I need to recertify my IDR plan in 2025?

According to the MOHELA portal on the Federal Student Aid website, recertification for all income-driven repayment (IDR) plans is not required until at least February 2026.

Borrowers must recertify income-driven repayment plan applications annually, but IDR plans aren’t all alike. Here’s a quick overview:

• SAVE. The SAVE plan limits payments to 10% of discretionary income, with repayment terms of 20 or 25 years.
• Income-Based Repayment (IBR). IBR caps payments at 10% or 15% of discretionary income and repayment at 20 or 25 years, depending on when you took out your loans. 
• Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). ICR gives you up to 25 years to repay your loans with payments limited to 20% of discretionary income. 
• Pay As You Earn (PAYE). PAYE caps payments at 10% of discretionary income, with a 20-year repayment period. 
• Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE). SAVE replaced REPAYE. 

The SAVE plan recertification deadline has already been extended to February 1, 2026, so borrowers on SAVE don’t need to take action until that date approaches. Extensions are still being processed for borrowers on IBR, PAYE, and ICR plans. MOHELA advises that this may take a few weeks and that borrowers will be notified once the updates are finalized.

Until then, the IDR application portal remains closed, so no action is needed. Once your recertification date nears and the portal reopens, your loan servicer will provide instructions on how and when to recertify.

How to recertify an income-driven repayment plan 

You have two options for updating income for student loans: automatic or manual recertification. 

1. Automatic recertification uses your tax information to update your plan on your annual recertification date.
2. Manual recertification requires you to update your information through StudentAid.gov. 

You must consent to automatic recertification when applying for an IDR plan. Should your payment change when you recertify, the Department of Education will notify you before the payment takes effect. If the Department of Ed can’t access your tax information for any reason, it will ask you to complete a manual update. 

Here’s how the manual update process works under normal circumstances.

1. Log in to your StudentAid account.
2. Select the option to manually recertify your IDR plan.
3. Update your information, including your income, family size, and marital status. You can opt in to automatic recertification through the StudentAid website if you’d like. 
4. Review your address and contact details and make necessary corrections. 
5. Check your recertification form to ensure your information is correct; if it is, hit submit.  

You can also download and print a paper form to send to your loan servicer. But as long as there’s a pause in processing online recertification applications, paper applications are on hold, too. 

Remember that you can update your income anytime; you don’t need to wait until the recertification deadline. You might submit an income update if you’re making less money and want your loan servicer to recalculate your loan payments. 

For example, say MOHELA services your loans. You can use the MOHELA recertify income page to upload your proof of income documents. Acceptable documentation includes:

• Pay stubs
• Wage statements
• W-2s
• Tax filings
• Bank statements
• A letter from your employer documenting your income

If you’re self-employed, ask your loan servicer what forms it will accept. For example, you might be able to submit a profit and loss statement and cash flow statement or 1099s in place of W-2s and pay stubs.

What to do if you need to recertify and can’t 

If you need to recertify for IDR but can’t, the safest bet is to reach out to your loan servicer. It may be able to advise you on what you can do to manage your student loans until you can go through the recertification process. 

Your loan servicer might be able to offer you a forbearance or deferment to pause payments. For example, MOHELA automatically informs accounts with pending IDR applications of forbearance; you don’t need to do anything to apply for relief. 

Here’s how these two options compare: 

• Forbearance allows you to stop payments for a set period or make smaller payments. Interest accrues on your loans during this time, so you could come out of forbearance and have more debt to repay.
• Deferment also gives you a break from making payments, but interest may or may not accrue, depending on the type of student loan you have. 

If you’re not eligible for those options, you might consider turning off automatic payments if you’ve enrolled in them. You could avoid an unwelcome surprise if your payments increase significantly. 

What about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)? PSLF income certification requirements and the requirements to qualify for forgiveness have not changed as of March 2025. However, you can’t submit a new recertification application at the moment. 

What happens if I miss my IDR plan renewal date? 

If you miss your IDR renewal date, the consequences depend on the type of plan you’re enrolled in. Here’s what the Department of Education says about failure to recertify on time. 

• SAVE. If you don’t renew, you’ll be removed from SAVE and placed on the standard 10-year repayment plan. 
• PAYE or ICR. You’ll keep your plan, but your payments will no longer be based on your income. Your payments will instead be whatever you’d pay under a standard 10-year repayment plan. 
• IBR. You’ll stay on the IBR plan, but your payments will adjust to whatever they’d be under the standard 10-year repayment plan. Unpaid interest will capitalize and be added to your principal loan balance. 

Currently, all loan servicers follow these guidelines. So whether your loans are with MOHELA, Nelnet, or another federal loan servicer, you’ll end up on the standard 10-year repayment plan if you don’t recertify on time. 

The government could make special provisions to waive those consequences since you technically can’t submit a new recertification application. However, there’s been no mention of that happening. 

What to do if you miss your recertification deadline 

If you miss your recertification deadline, even through no fault of your own, talk to your loan servicer ASAP. It might be able to offer you a temporary forbearance or deferment. 

You can resume your plan once you update your income information, assuming you still qualify for IDR based on your income and household size. 

What if your payments increase because you moved to a standard repayment plan? How you handle that depends on when you expect to be able to recertify and how confident you are that you’ll qualify for a lower payment plan. 

If you don’t think you can get back on IDR, you could refinance your student loans instead. Here’s what that means:

• You apply for a private student loan through a lender. Check out our top recommendations here.
• If approved, the new loan pays off your existing federal loans.
• You make one payment to the new loan going forward. 

Refinancing means you’ll lose certain federal loan protections, including access to IDR plans. However, if IDR is no longer on the table for you, refinancing could help to lower your monthly payments. Shopping around to compare refinance rates can help you evaluate whether it makes sense.

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Tip

If you’re exploring refinancing, we recommend starting with Credible, our choice for best comparison shopping. With Credible, you can compare real prequalified rates from multiple top lenders in minutes without affecting your credit score. It’s one of the easiest ways to see whether refinancing could lower your monthly payments or total interest costs.

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If someone is struggling with increased student loan payments due to the recent changes, I recommend deferment or forbearance to pause payments.

The only way I’d recommend refinancing is if you have stable employment and are confident you can pay off their student loan balance over time. If you have reason to believe you would qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness or could benefit from other protections offered by federal student loans in the future, I would not recommend refinancing into the private system.

FAQ

Do I have to recertify every year for PSLF?

No, you are not required to recertify your income annually for PSLF. However, you should submit the PSLF Employment Certification Form each year and whenever you change employers to ensure that your qualifying payments are properly tracked. If you’re on an IDR plan, you need to recertify your income annually to keep your payments based on your earnings.

What happens after 25 years of income-based repayment?

After 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments under an IDR plan (depending on the specific plan), the remaining balance of your federal student loans is forgiven. However, any forgiven balance may be considered taxable income unless you qualify for tax-free forgiveness through PSLF or if future legislation changes how forgiven debt is taxed.

How do I find my IDR recertification date?

You can find your IDR recertification date by logging into your Federal Student Aid (FSA) account at StudentAid.gov. Your loan servicer should also notify you before your recertification deadline, so it’s important to keep your contact information updated.

How is my IDR student loan payment recalculated when I recertify?

Your monthly payment is recalculated based on your updated income and family size when you recertify. If your income has increased, your payment may go up; if it has decreased, your payment may go down. Your servicer uses a percentage (typically 10% to 20% of your discretionary income) to determine your new payment under your IDR plan. Use our student loan income-based repayment calculator to estimate your new payment.