u/Betsy514

Im talking since June. If so please email TISLA.

My father has dementia. Thankfully it's early days and according to the doctor it's not the kind where he at some point won't know who we are. It does kick up his anxiety and is causing memory issues and he gets easily confused. I live far away and only get to see him in person once or twice a year but try to talk on the phone at least once a week.

One way his anxiety is showing is he often feels disconnected and not close to myself and my sister. So for Christmas I got him a bunch of books I'd already read and enjoyed and we started a mini book club. It's been wonderful. Gives us something to talk about and I think he likes that this is "our" thing. I had him read the godfather and the Martian. Not his usual book choice but he really enjoyed them. Then I picked the monument men and that was a fail...too confusing for him to follow.

His usual genre is stuff like Dan Brown or WWII stories. Those aren't my jam but if need be I'd read them for his sake. I can't stand mysteries as a rule. I'm more of a historical fiction person..think Margaret George.

I asked him to pick the next book but he keeps forgetting so I'm going to have to pick and send it to him.

He's very very smart...but the dementia means we need something that doesn't have too many characters or plot lines to keep track of.

Thank you!

This caught everyone I know off guard. There was no discussion during the negotiated rulemaking other than one obscure comment in the draft rules ..and the regulations themselves haven't changed. Despite this I've confirmed that the recent language changes on the pslf page of the student aid site that says all payments must be on time is true.

On time is defined as making the payment on or before the due date. Lump sum payment rules haven't changed...those will count.

We knew rap payments had to be on time but there was nothing indicating the other plans also had to be on time. This change is effective July 1 2026 so any past late payments will still count.

This change..other than for the rap which is written into federal law may end up being challenged as I'm not convinced they followed procedures correctly. But it's too soon to tell.

The other thing I'm trying to suss out here is how they will treat autopay when the due date falls on a weekend and they don't end up pulling the payment until the next business day. I'd like to think that will be treated as on time but am still seeking confirmation of that.

While we're on the topic of on time payments I want to make sure users also understand that if you plan on using one of the deferments that count for pslf make sure you aren't on the rap plan right before that or that deferment won't count. So if you are on the rap and need such a deferment..get off rap for a month..then get on the deferment. You can see which deferments count in the pslf page of the FSA website

Buy back: you can still do buy back as long as you weren't on the rap directly before the period you are trying to buy back. You can be on another plan before that period. You can be on the rap after that period. https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-buyback

As I predicted. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.291142/gov.uscourts.mad.291142.127.0.pdf

I'm sure the feds will appeal but for now they can't implement it.

And for a summary of this see my post from last summer. https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/s/zXw6vIo7XZ

I'm going to go put on my chaos pajamas to celebrate. Iykyk

It's not perfect in that you have to enter spousal income if you file jointly without a prompt to do so but otherwise it looks ok. I don't think you can apply for the rap yet and don't expect it until July 1. Remember that the TISLA website also has a calculator that includes the rap as do other sites.

As a reminder..all income driven plans require the use of spousal income in the calculation if you file taxes jointly

There is no July 1 deadline to switch to anything. Those in save will get a notice on or after July 1 with a 90 day window to do so.

If you post on this sub for questions about which plan to pick for the love of all you consider holy please include the information we need to help you including loan balance.. income.. spouse too if you file jointly... family size and date of first loan ever. All of your other bills and backstory are interesting to read but usually not relevant to plan eligibility

The loan simulator can be found on www.studentaid.gov

Edit. Looks like you can apply for the rap online now. Just not manually via the form.

From Politico: Link to actual lawsuit at bottom.

At this time this doesn't change anything at all. The new loan limit regulations are still active. But the plaintiffs do ask for an injunction so it's not impossible that this implementation could be paused.

There's nothing here about repayment plans, or SAVE or PSLF. Just the new loan limits.

" More than 20 states filed a lawsuit against the Education Department on Tuesday over its limits on what fields will be eligible for higher loan caps put on graduate professional degrees. Congress capped federal loans for graduate students at $20,500 per year with a $100,000 aggregate limit in the GOP's sweeping domestic policy law last year. Students in professional programs can take up to $50,000 in federal student loans per year with a $200,000 aggregate limit. These limits go into effect July 1. It was up to the Education Department to define which students would qualify as professionals eligible for the higher cap. The agency finalized a rule in April that designated 11 fields as professional, including medicine, law, dentistry and theology — an approach that drew sharp criticism for excluding nursing and other professions from eligibility for the higher loan limits. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, asks the court to block the parts of the rule the states are challenging. The attorneys general argue that the definition the department put in place is too “narrow” and Congress did not intend to limit professions eligible for the higher limits in that way. They also say the caps will force many students, particularly those in critical health care fields that face shortages, to rely on more expensive private loans, take on higher levels of debt, delay completing their education or abandon these programs altogether. “You should not have to be wealthy to serve your community as a nurse, physical therapist, or physician assistant,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Higher education is expensive, and our health care system is already under immense strain. This rule will shut talented people out of critical professions and leave communities with fewer health care providers they desperately need. We cannot afford fewer nurses, fewer providers, or fewer opportunities for working people to enter these essential fields.” Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said the caps are legal and will drive down the cost of college. "After decades of unchecked student loan borrowing that gave schools no reason to control costs, these commonsense loan caps – created by Congress – are already incentivizing colleges and universities to lower tuition," Kent said in a statement. "Clearly, these Democratic governors and attorneys general are more concerned about institutions’ bottom-line rather than American students and families’ ability to access affordable postsecondary education.” In addition to New York, the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, joined the suit.

Link to court filing. https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-maryland-et-al-v-united-states-of-education-linda-mcmahon-court-filing-2026.pdf

I'll need time to read it all but one big change..not a good one. While counts for IBR..icr and paye will count for rap forgiveness. Rap payments won't count towards the others. So the strategy of getting on the rap for the interest subsidy and then switching back to ibr at the end for shorter forgiveness is out the window. And yes, the RAP still counts for PSLF

We can thank whomever submitted a comment to the feds that what they had originally on this was unlawful.

No changes to the definition of professional degrees..so they didn't expand that

I'll update the rest by tomorrow so please hold off on your questions for now

https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2026-08556/reimagining-and-improving-student-education-federal-student-loan-program

EDIT: I've completed my first very very quick skim and there are no other major changes from the draft rules. So my initial summary should still stand. If I pick up anything else noteworthy in the comments I'll continue to edit this post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1otx19d/summary_of_rise_neg_reg_these_are_the_provisions/