Can I Get Student Loan Forgiveness After 20 Years?

Paying back student loans can feel endless, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. If you sign up for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan, you could qualify for student loan forgiveness after 20 years or after 25 years, depending on when you originally borrowed. 

While the U.S. Department of Education had temporarily paused processing IBR forgiveness to adjust to recent changes, a deal was reached in mid-October of 2025 that has allowed processing to resume for eligible borrowers.

Here's what to know about income-based repayment options and how to track your progress. 

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Can student loans be forgiven after 20 years?

If you have federal student loans, you might qualify for student loan forgiveness after 20 years of repayment on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. 

Income-driven plans adjust your monthly payments based on your income and family size. IDR plans also extend your loan terms to 20 or 25 years. However, since your monthly payment is based on income, it may not be high enough to repay your full loan balance during the repayment term. The good news is that the Department of Education forgives any amount remaining if you have met the requirements by the end of your repayment term. 

You must make on-time payments throughout the 20 or 25 years to qualify for student loan forgiveness. If you've missed payments and your loans have gone into student loan default, you wouldn't be eligible for this benefit. 

While other plans in the past, including the SAVE Plan, offered a shorter forgiveness timeline for some borrowers, that plan was blocked in the courts. 

Which repayment plans offer 20-year forgiveness?

While there are three income-driven repayment plans, only one currently offers student loan forgiveness after 20 years — the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan. 

The IBR Plan is the only option because court injunctions, which blocked the now-defunct SAVE Plan, also prevented the Department of Education  from processing forgiveness for the other IDR plans, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). 

If you've been diligently paying back your loans on SAVE, PAYE, or ICR, don't despair — you can still pursue income-based forgiveness by switching to the IBR Plan. The Department of Education will count the payments you made on SAVE, PAYE, or ICR toward IBR forgiveness if you enroll in IBR. 

“Your long-term loan forgiveness payment count will transfer with you to your new repayment plan,” says Robert Farrington, student loan expert and founder of The College Investor. “But time in forbearance doesn't count.” This means if your payments have been paused due to SAVE forbearance, the months you did not make payments won't count toward forgiveness. 

You can enroll in IBR by making an income-driven repayment plan request on the Federal Student Aid website, but keep in mind that your monthly payments could change. This Loan Simulator tool can help you calculate your payments and determine if switching is the right choice for you. 

There's one more caveat: The Department of Education has only recently resumed processing IBR forgiveness. Borrowers who made overpayments before IBR forgiveness resumed will receive refunds, according to Ellen Keast, the Education Deputy Press Secretary for the agency.  

Who qualifies for 20-year forgiveness under IDR?

Your student loan timeline affects forgiveness options. You could qualify for 20-year forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment Plan if you took out federal student loans for the first time after July 1, 2014. If you borrowed before July 1, 2014, you'll have to wait 25 years to receive loan forgiveness.

The date you borrowed also impacts your monthly payments. For first-time borrowers after July 1, 2014, the monthly payment is set to 10% of discretionary income. If you borrowed before that date, you'll pay 15% of your discretionary income. 

Starting on July 1, 2026, there will only be one income-driven repayment plan option for new loans called the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). RAP will offer forgiveness after 30 years. PAYE and ICR will be phased out by July 1, 2028.  There will be no options for new borrowers to qualify for 20-year repayment plans with forgiveness.

If you don't switch in time, your Direct Loans will be placed in RAP, while any FFEL loans or Direct Consolidation Loans that repaid a parent PLUS loan will be placed in IBR. 

How to track progress toward forgiveness

Twenty years is a long time, so it's important to track your payments to make sure you're making progress toward federal loan forgiveness. You can see your history of payments by logging into your loan servicer's website. These are the main servicers for federal student loans: 

• Edfinancial
• MOHELA
• Aidvantage
• Nelnet
• ECSI
• CRI

If you have questions, you can also reach out to your loan servicer directly for information about your loans. It's also worth noting that sometimes student loans get transferred to new loan servicers. Your new servicer should have your payment history, but it can take up to six weeks for it to be fully updated. 

“It is helpful for borrowers to maintain a spreadsheet that lists each qualifying payment, including the date it was paid, the repayment plan, the loan servicer, and other details,” says financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz. “Keep your own records in case you need to challenge the accuracy of the U.S. Department of Education and loan servicer records.”

Along with making on-time payments on your student loans, you'll also need to recertify your income and family size each year to stay on income-driven repayment. If you allow it, the Department of Education can do this for you automatically by accessing your federal tax information. Otherwise, you'll need to manually upload your income information each year. 

Set a reminder in your calendar each year so you don't miss the recertification deadline. You can also recertify early if your income or family size has changed and you'd like an adjustment in your monthly payment. 

What happens when your loan is forgiven?

When your student loan is forgiven under an income-driven plan, your servicer will report the forgiven balance to the IRS. 

The forgiven amount won't be subject to federal income taxes through the end of 2025 due to a provision in the American Rescue Act of 2021. However, the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act didn't extend this exemption, so you will have to pay federal taxes on the forgiven balance starting in 2026. You may also have to pay state taxes on the amount, so check with your state for specific rules.