IBR Student Loan Forgiveness Resumes After Pause

For the first time in nearly a year, federal student loan borrowers are seeing their balances forgiven under the Income-Based Repayment plan. On Tuesday September 30, 2025, the Department of Education sent out a wave of approval notices to borrowers who had crossed the 20- or 25-year repayment threshold under IBR.

The emails, which many borrowers referred to as “golden letters,” confirmed that the borrowers had met the timeline required for loan forgiveness, and that the Department of Education would begin the process of loan forgiveness.