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

Google Rolls Out Latest AI Model, Gemini 3.1 Pro

Starting Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro can be accessed via the AI app, NotebookLM and more.

Google took the wraps off its latest AI model, Gemini 3.1 Pro, on Thursday, calling it a «step forward in core reasoning.» The software giant says its latest model is smarter and more capable for complex problem-solving.

Google shared a series of bookmarks and examples of the latest model’s capabilities, and is rolling out Gemini 3.1 to a series of products for consumers, enterprise and developers.

The overall AI model landscape seems to change weekly. Google’s release comes just a few days after Anthropic dropped the latest version of Claude, Sonnet 4.6, which can operate a computer at a human baseline level.

Benchmarks of Gemini 3.1

Google shared some details about AI model benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Pro.

The announcement blog post highlights that the Gemini 3.1 Pro benchmark for the ARC-AGI-2 test for solving abstract reasoning puzzles sits at 77.1%. This is noticeably higher than Gemini 3 Pro’s 31.1% score for the same test.

The ARC-AGI-2 benchmark is one of multiple improvements coming from Gemini 3.1 Pro, Google says.

3.1 Pro enhancements

With better benchmarks nearly across the board, Google highlighted some of the ways that translate in general use:

Code-based animations: The latest Gemini model can easily create animated SVG images that are scalable without quality loss and ready to be added to websites with a text prompt.

Creative coding: Gemini 3.1 Pro generated an entire website based on a character from Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, if she were a landscape photographer showing off her portfolio.

Interactive design: 3.1 Pro was used to create a 3D interactive starling murmuration that allows the flock to be controlled in an assortment of ways, all while a soundscape is generated that changes with the movement of the birds.

Availability

As of Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro is rolling out in the Gemini app for those with the AI Pro or Ultra plans. NotebookLM users subscribed to one of those plans will also be able to take advantage of the new model.

Both developers and enterprises can also access the new model via the Gemini API through a range of products, including AI Studio, Gemini Enterprise, Antigravity and Android Studio.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 20 #719

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 20, No. 719.

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 a bit tricky. 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: True grit

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: You might find this in a wood shop.

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:

SAND, CART, SCAR, SCAT, PAPER, HAVE

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:

COARSE, HARSH, SCRATCHY, ROUGH, PRICKLY, ABRASIVE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SANDPAPER. To find it, start with the S that’s the farthest-left letter on the very top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 20, #515

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 20, No. 515.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a category all about my favorite football team. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: We’ll be right back…

Green group hint: Run for the roses.

Blue group hint: Skol!

Purple group hint: