Your loans are likely in forbearance on MOHELA due to recent legal challenges with the SAVE Plan, causing an automatic administrative forbearance to pause payments while issues are resolved, or it could be due to general processing delays from large program updates, though typically MOHELA would notify you of requested or approved forbearance for hardship. This administrative pause, especially related to the SAVE plan, often doesn't count toward PSLF or IDR forgiveness and may accrue interest, so it's important to check your account for details.
You were either enrolled in the SAVE Plan or about to have your payments lowered under it. A federal court recently blocked the implementation of the SAVE Plan. To comply with the court order and prevent incorrect billing, the Education Department directed MOHELA to place affected borrowers into forbearance.
You can leave the SAVE administrative forbearance by switching to an eligible repayment plan. Visit Loan Simulator this link will open in a new window and apply today! Please Note: Once your request is approved, the forbearance will be ended to allow time for billing to start on your new plan.
Here's the answer: it refers to a temporary postponement or reduction of monthly student loan payments due to financial hardship or other qualifying circumstances.
MOHELA is facing significant criticism, investigations, and lawsuits for widespread servicing failures, especially with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, leading to delayed processing and miscalculations, prompting the Dept of Ed to withhold funds and leading to multi-state probes, while MOHELA transitions to a new platform, requiring borrowers to create new accounts and monitor for errors like payment count issues or being placed in forbearance due to SAVE Plan changes.
With forbearance, you won't have to make a payment, or you can temporarily make a smaller payment. However, you probably won't be making any progress toward forgiveness or paying back your loan. As an alternative, consider income-driven repayment. You have a limited amount of forbearance available.
During a forbearance, you are responsible for the accrued interest. During a deferment, only borrowers with Unsubsidized Stafford, Parent PLUS and GradPLUS loans are responsible for the interest that accrues.
Check if your loan payments are paused, too
Many borrowers' loans are put into the status for up to 60 days until the change is complete, said Kantrowitz. "The reason for an administrative forbearance is to ensure that a borrower isn't marked delinquent if their payments didn't go to the right servicer," he said.
Your student loans likely say no payment due in 2025 due to the ongoing pause and legal challenges surrounding the SAVE plan, placing many borrowers in a general forbearance where payments aren't required, though interest might accrue, with extensions often granted until late 2025 or 2026, pending court approvals and new rules. It could also mean you're in an in-school deferment or grace period, or your income-driven plan (IDR) calculates a $0 payment, but always check if interest is still building up.
In fact, forbearance can help prevent hurting your credit score because it minimizes the chances that you will make a late payment or miss a payment altogether, and in turn, create negative credit history. While forbearance won't affect your credit score, it will be noted in your credit report.
On August 1, 2025, interest began accruing on the SAVE Administrative Forbearance. Visit StudentAid.gov/SAVE to learn more. You can leave the forbearance by switching to an eligible repayment plan using Loan Simulator.
Interest accrues on all types of Direct Loans during a forbearance. However, interest that accrues during a forbearance will not be capitalized when the forbearance ends. Whether your unpaid interest capitalizes or not, you're still responsible for paying the interest that accrues.
In most cases, interest will accrue during your period of deferment or forbearance. This means your balance will increase and you'll pay more over the life of your loan. If you're pursuing loan forgiveness, any period of deferment or forbearance may not count toward your forgiveness requirements.
Forbearance is a process that can help if you're struggling to pay your mortgage. Your servicer or lender arranges for you to temporarily pause mortgage payments or make smaller payments. You still owe the full amount, and you pay back the difference later. Forbearance can help you deal with a financial hardship.
Your lender may grant forbearance of principal, interest, or both. If forbearance is granted on interest, the interest that accrues during the forbearance will usually be capitalized and added to the loan. Your lender can grant forbearance for up to 1 year if you agree to this in writing.
Student loan forbearance is a temporary postponement or reduction of your student loan payments because you are experiencing financial difficulty.
The "7-year rule" for student loans generally refers to when negative marks, like defaults, are removed from your credit report (around 7 years after the first missed payment or default date for federal loans, 7.5 years for private loans), but the debt itself doesn't disappear and must be paid off; it's also a benchmark in bankruptcy proceedings where federal loans can become dischargeable after 7 years from when payments were due, though proving "undue hardship" is required and difficult.
If you repay your loans under an IDR plan, the end of term balance on your student loans may be forgiven after you make a certain number of payments over 20 or 25 years (240 or 300 monthly payments). Use Loan Simulator to compare plans, estimate monthly payment amounts, and see if you're eligible for an IDR plan.