Advice: PSLF Buyback vs. continuing RAP — 90/120 with ~25 SAVE forbearance months
Hello and sorry for the long post:
I’m currently at 90/120 qualifying PSLF payments and trying to decide whether pursuing SAVE-forbearance buyback will be worth it versus just continuing payments.
Based on my employment history, I expect to reach 120 months of qualifying employment around February 2027, which is when I believe I could potentially request buyback.
My PSLF history currently shows 23 ineligible SAVE-forbearance months (Sept. 2024–July 2026). If Aug./Sept. 2026 are eventually treated the same way before repayment resumes, I expect to have about 25 potentially buyback-eligible months.
Immediately before the forbearance, I was paying $155.65/month (last payment July 5, 2024; forbearance began July 6). Unfortunately, I cannot figure out which IDR plan I was on immediately before SAVE—StudentAid shows my old IDR applications and MOHELA shows the payment amounts, but neither identifies the plan.
I’m now moving to RAP at $347.77/month starting October 2026. If I simply make the remaining 30 qualifying payments at that amount, that’s about $10,433 and StudentAid currently projects forgiveness around March 2029 (recognizing my RAP payment could change with recertification).
For those who have received a recent SAVE-forbearance buyback offer: how did ED calculate your buyback amount? Did they use your pre-SAVE payment/plan, request income and family-size information, or calculate something else?
And given my numbers, would you pursue buyback once eligible or just continue making RAP payments?
I’d especially appreciate experiences from people who received actual 2025/2026 buyback offers.
Thank you!🙏🏼
Posted Sep 12, 2026, 2:19 AM UTC