Courts End The SAVE Plan While More Than 12,000 Americans Demand That The White House Protect It

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 12, 2026

WASHINGTON D.C. – On February 27, the court dismissed the settlement that sought to end the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. Amid ongoing legal uncertainty, the Eighth Circuit Court ruled on March 9th to reverse the dismissal and directed the District Court to find the SAVE plan illegal without any significant hearing on the merits, and the lower District Court upheld that ruling on March 10th. The Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) condemns this decision.

“Tuesday’s decision from the lower District Court to deem the SAVE plan illegal harms the 7 million Americans enrolled in SAVE and their families,” said Natalia Abrams, President and Founder of SDCC. “Borrowers are facing a deepening affordability crisis and must have access to the affordable payments and loan forgiveness they were promised. We are calling on the White House to do what is right for student loan borrowers and intervene in this decision to ease the pains of the affordability crisis for borrowers across the country. We need immediate action now to protect all borrowers from further financial harm.”

In the last week, over 12,223 Americans have signed a petition calling on the White House to uphold the SAVE plan for the more than 7 million Americans enrolled in it. The SAVE plan was the most affordable Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan ever created, offering benefits such as subsidized interest, shorter loan forgiveness timelines for low-balance borrowers, and IDR forgiveness. This decision comes amid a worsening affordability crisis that will certainly make everyday life more expensive for millions of Americans across the country.

"Please. Millions of Americans make a student loan payment every month,” shared a student loan borrower in Florida. “The SAVE Plan helps an enormous amount of them be able to afford those payments and still live with dignity.”

SDCC will continue providing updates and resources on any changes to the SAVE plan and will keep advocating on behalf of borrowers affected by this decision.

For more information, to schedule an interview, or to request additional data, please contact info@studentdebtcrisis.org

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ABOUT Student Debt Crisis Center

Student Debt Crisis Center is a national advocacy organization with nearly 2,000,000 supporters calling for fundamental reforms to student loan policies and an end to the student debt crisis. Learn more here.