Higher earners could qualify for lower student loan payments in December

Driving the news: The department indicated in recent guidance that it will complete the changes necessary to update IBR eligibility in December, telling Axios on Tuesday that it is still on track to do so.

• "In the meantime, servicers will hold IBR applications that would otherwise be denied," the department said in its November guidance.

Here's what to know:

How eligibility has changed for the IBR plan

Catch up quick: Previously, IBR borrowers couldn't have certain types of ineligible loans and were required to demonstrate "partial financial hardship."

State of play: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminates the "partial financial hardship" requirement and reduces barriers some other loan types.

• "Parent PLUS borrowers who have consolidated their parent PLUS loans into Direct Consolidation Loans and who have enrolled in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan" are also now eligible to enroll in IBR plans
• The full details for what qualifies can be found on the Federal Student Aid website.

What counts as an IBR plan

Zoom in: IBR plans assign borrowers monthly payments based on their incomes, forgiving their loans after 20 or 25 years.

• The change means that borrowers with higher income-based repayments are now eligible for IBR, as well as its 20- and 25-year paths to forgiveness.

Context: Monthly payments are generally equal to 15% of a person's discretionary income (10% if you are a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014), divided by 12, per the DOE.

Flashback: The Education Department resumed the IBR program last month, which it had paused in July.

• "It's the first proof that forgiveness is still happening for long-term borrowers after months of uncertainty," Stanley Tate, a consumer lawyer who specializes in student loans, told Axios at the time.