Student Loan Clear

What changed, and when

The rule changes in order, each linked to the official source. When a rule changes, we update the pages it touches and log it here.

Rule changes

DateChange
2025-07-04Public Law 119-21 signed. Creates RAP and Tiered Standard, ends Grad PLUS for new borrowers, sets new loan limits, removes IBR’s hardship test. Source
2026-03Court approves the Missouri settlement; SAVE ends. Source
2026-03-27Department of Education begins notifying more than 7.5 million SAVE borrowers. Source
2026-05-01Final regulations published in the Federal Register (effective July 1, 2026). Source
2026-06-18Auto pay interest rate reduction raised to 1 percentage point from July 1. Source
2026-06-24Court preliminarily stays part of the professional degree definition used for loan limits. Source
2026-01-16Department of Education announces a delay of administrative wage garnishment and Treasury offset on defaulted loans. Source
2026-06-092026 income percentage factors for ICR published in the Federal Register (apply July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027). Source
2026-07-01RAP and Tiered Standard open; new loan limits apply; servicers start 90-day notices to SAVE borrowers. Source
2025-10IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: for 2026, the student loan interest deduction phases out from $85,000 to $100,000 of MAGI ($175,000 to $205,000 joint). Source
2026-09-29Auto pay enrollment deadline for the 1-point reduction extended to Dec. 31, 2026. Source

Updates to this site

DateUpdate
2026-10-17Added the guide to student loan consolidation under the 2026 rules, with a calculator for the new rate, Tiered Standard term and carried-over payment count.
2026-10-17Added the complete guide to the Repayment Assistance Plan (it replaces the short “What is RAP” guide, whose address now redirects there). Every guide now opens with a one-line answer and who it applies to, and ends with next steps and the matching calculator.
2026-10-17Added the student loan, payoff, PSLF, refinance, parent PLUS and garnishment calculators, the default and servicer sections, and nine guides. Corrected the parent PLUS guide: a consolidation loan made on or after July 1, 2026 can only use Tiered Standard, so the ICR-to-IBR route applies only to consolidation loans made before that date.
2026-10-17Added the student loan interest deduction calculator and three tax guides (Form 1098-E, employer payments, the 2026 deduction). Rules checked against 26 U.S.C. 221, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and Publication 970.
2026-10-17First version built (not yet public): the RAP vs IBR vs Standard calculator and 21 guides. All rules checked against the sources above on this date.