Technologies

460,000 Student Loan Borrowers Seeking Lower Payments Will Be Denied. What to Do If You’re One of Them

Most applicants were eligible for SAVE, which has been struck down. Here’s how to apply for other repayment plans.

Nearly half a million federal student loan borrowers who applied for lower monthly payments will be denied by the Department of Education.

Based on internal documents obtained by Politico, the department is rejecting 460,000 student loan borrowers who selected the lowest payment option based on their income. For most applicants, that was the Saving for a Valuable Education repayment plan.

SAVE was struck down by a federal court in February, so how were people still applying for the plan? It’s likely the Education Department is still processing applications submitted before the Trump administration removed the SAVE plan as an option on Feb. 21, 2025, said student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz.

As of June 30, the department reported 1.5 million pending applications for borrowers who are seeking Income-Driven Repayment plans. It processed 186,731 applications in June.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Processing delays are the latest hurdle for borrowers trying to navigate student loan repayment. Millions of SAVE borrowers’ loans are currently in a general forbearance, with payments expected to remain on hold until mid-2026. However, the Department of Education announced this month that those loans will start accruing interest again on Aug. 1, so borrowers may be feeling pressured to choose another repayment program.

If you’ve applied for a repayment plan, here’s what you need to know about the status of your application and when you could start repayments.

Read more: SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Have Less Than 2 Weeks Before Interest Restarts. Here’s What to Do

How can you find out the status of your loan and repayment plan request?

If you applied for a new repayment plan and are denied, your loan processor should notify you when your application has been processed. You can also check the status of your plan request by logging into your StudentAid.gov account and going to the «My Activity» page. Your application should be listed as «In Review», «Action Required» or «Completed or Closed.»

Although the Federal Student Aid site says processing typically takes about 30 days, it notes you should expect delays due to the high volume of requests.

What happens if I’m rejected for a repayment plan?

If you applied for an income-driven repayment plan and were rejected, you may be placed in a standard 10-year repayment plan if you don’t choose another repayment plan, Kantrowitz said. «That’s typically what happens when a borrower is no longer eligible for an income-driven repayment plan.»

However, you can apply for another repayment plan at this time. The other repayment plans are also in a bit of a transition period since the Republican-led One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed. Existing borrowers can still sign up for the Income-Based Repayment plan. Two other income-driven repayment plans, income-contingent and PAYE, are still options on the federal student loan site, but will be phased out.

Existing borrowers will also have the option to enroll in the Repayment Assistance Plan, a new plan that was passed in the bill, but this option won’t be available until next year.

«The best option for most borrowers who were in the SAVE repayment plan is IBR, since IBR still qualifies for forgiveness, while ICR and PAYE do not,» Kantrowitz said. «[Previous] payments made under SAVE, ICR, PAYE, REPAYE and IBR count toward IBR forgiveness.»

If you’re a SAVE borrower who applies for a new repayment plan and it’s held up by processing delays, your loans should remain in good standing while you’re waiting. However, interest will start accruing next month, so you may consider making interest-only payments while waiting for your application to process.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Nov. 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 16.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? For me, 7-Across was a bit of a stumper, but I eventually solved it. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Cars that stop at Supercharger stations
Answer: TESLAS

7A clue: What «e-» can mean
Answer: ONLINE

8A clue: Words that might begin the name of a quaint English inn
Answer: YEOLDE

9A clue: What «E» can mean
Answer: EMPTY

10A clue: Easter egg colorings
Answer: DYES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Messed (with)
Answer: TOYED

2D clue: Ally’s opposite
Answer: ENEMY

3D clue: What «m» stands for in the equation «y = mx + b»
Answer: SLOPE

4D clue: Musical cadences of speech
Answer: LILTS

5D clue: Samberg of «Brooklyn Nine-Nine»
Answer: ANDY

6D clue: «___ what I did there?»
Answer: SEE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16, #889

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 16, #889.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun one. As a pop-culture junkie and game lover, I enjoyed the purple category. If you need help sorting the answers into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Different strokes for different folks.

Green group hint: Ho-hum.

Blue group hint: Flags often qualify.

Purple group hint: Do not pass Go.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Technique.

Green group: Run-of-the-mill.

Blue group: Stripy things.

Purple group: Words on Monopoly squares.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is technique. The four answers are approach, method, philosophy and school.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is run-of-the-mill. The four answers are banal, everday, humdrum and pedestrian.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is stripy things.The four answers are barcode, IBM logo, rugby shirt and zebra.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words on Monopoly squares. The four answers are avenue, parking, railroad and tax.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16 #623

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Nov. 16, No. 623.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is tough. It’s a weird theme, and some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Around it goes.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: They’re often on a roll.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CARE, SCARE, CRASS, SWAT, PELL, HELL, SCAR, HALT, STENT, HALTS, TENT, POLL, LOTS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

FOIL, SCARF, SHAWL, STOLE, FLATBREAD, CELLOPHANE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THATSAWRAP. To find it, start with the T that’s three letters up from the bottom of the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.