More student loan borrowers are falling behind on payments than ever before. The Biden-era SAVE plan is dead. Collections are moving from one federal agency to another. New loan limits will take effect this summer.

Carol Trone can barely keep up with all of the student loan news, and she’s the executive director of the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt, a nonprofit that helps borrowers.

 “I check headlines every day,” she said. “These are crazy times.”

Wisconsin has about 720,000 borrowers who hold $24 billion in federal student loan debt, according to the latest federal education data. Nearly 125,000 of them are in default, including more than 50,000 who are newly in default as of last year.

Many have questions about repayment, loan consolidation and more.

“You’re not alone,” Trone said. “The stories we hear are of frustration, confusion, loan servicers changing – it’s a lot.”

Trone encouraged borrowers to contact the coalition’s free, confidential helpline. She also broke down some of the biggest changes for 2026:

More borrowers in default

Student loan payments were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. Payments resumed in 2023, but borrowers did not face credit damage or default during a yearlong “on-ramp” period. That ended Sept. 30, 2024.

A borrower is considered delinquent when they haven’t made a payment in 30 days. They are in default when they haven’t made a payment in 270 days, though it may take two additional payment cycles to be reflected on credit reports.

More borrowers are falling behind on their payments. Nearly 8 million borrowers had defaulted on $181 billion in federal student loans by the end of last year, according to U.S. Education Department data. Another 3 million loan recipients were at least three months late on their payments.

It’s the highest combined rate of serious delinquency and default since the government began its data reporting system nearly a decade ago, the New York Times reported.

Biden’s SAVE plan is dead

Former President Joe Biden first proposed canceling up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 per year. After the U.S. Supreme Court knocked it down, he launched a new program that promised a lower monthly bill and a shorter path to loan forgiveness than other repayment plans.

About 135,000 Wisconsin borrowers enrolled in Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education plan, also referred to as SAVE, Trone said. But several legal challenges have effectively killed the program.

SAVE borrowers need to apply to a different repayment plan, the federal education department said March 27. In July, loan servicers will begin notifying borrowers they have 90 days to switch plans or automatically be placed in the standard plan.

The new repayment options will be far less borrower-friendly, Trone said. A family of four making $84,000 would have paid $36 per month on the SAVE plan. That could jump to $440 per month.

The federal student aid website includes a loan calculator tool to get a sense of how much payments will increase and which plan will lead to the lowest payments.

Borrowers seeking Public Service Loan Forgiveness face more complications

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers a path for borrowers who work in public service – such as teaching, nursing and policing – to have their debt erased after 10 years on the job.

The Trump administration is trying to change the program’s rules. The federal education department said that, beginning July 1, it would deny loan forgiveness to workers whose government or nonprofit employers engage in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose.” It could include organizations, for example, that work with undocumented immigrants or provide gender-affirming care to children.