Many federal student loan borrowers are facing tough decisions after a recent court decision forced them to pick a new repayment plan.

A federal court ruled in March that the SAVE plan, a repayment track launched by the Biden administration in 2024, was illegal, sending 7.5 million borrowers back to the drawing board to pick a new plan.

Borrowers now have 90 days to pick from as many as nine repayment plans, according to the Department of Education.

However, the clock on the 90-day deadline doesn’t start ticking until a borrower’s loan servicer sends them a notice that it’s time to select a new repayment option, the Department of Education stated in March. All notices will be sent out by the end of the year, loan servicer Nelnet notes on its website.

“The 90-day period provides borrowers with ample time to explore repayment options that best suit their needs and plan accordingly,” the education department said.

But borrowers don’t have to wait until their deadline day to pick a new plan; they can contact their current loan servicer to start repayment – or let them know they are switching to another option anytime during the 90 days.

If borrowers don’t pick a plan by the end of their 90-day window, they’ll be placed in a standard or tiered standard repayment plan, according to Nelnet.

The education department officially cut SAVE from its repayment options July 1 and plans to phase out income-contingent (ICR) and pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) plans by June 30, 2028, according to the think-tank Institute for College Access and Success.

To select a new repayment plan, borrowers can reach out to their servicer to discuss options, or they can use the Department of Education’s student loan repayment calculator to identify available plans.

The latter will ask borrowers for their tax filing status, adjusted gross income from their most recent tax return, family size and current student loan information.

Plans and repayment estimates provided by the loan calculator “are only estimates and are based on several assumptions that may not apply to you,” the education department warns.

Some borrowers will be in for a surprise when they see how much their payments are with eligible plans.

The SAVE plan’s payments were up to 5 percent of borrowers’ income. But the plans now available from the education department require payments equivalent to 10 percent to 20 percent of a borrower’s income.

That’s sent some borrowers into a spiral of worry and fear.

In a Reddit post titled “How much did your monthly payment increase after switching from the SAVE plan?”, user shibalvr97 claimed their payments rose from $0 to $286.

“I just want to say that I’m really sorry to anyone who is stressing, anxious, and unsure how they’re going to handle this change,” shibalvr97 wrote. “ It isn’t fair to any of us.”