The Department of Education has now gone two consecutive months without processing a single IDR loan discharge. Meanwhile, the PSLF Buyback backlog is growing, not shrinking. Here's what it means for borrowers waiting on forgiveness.
As of February 28, 2026, the Department of Education is sitting on 88,170 unprocessed PSLF Buyback applications. That number is climbing — up nearly 5,000 from 83,370 two months ago. The Buyback program allows borrowers to make lump-sum payments to cover periods that previously didn't count toward PSLF forgiveness, potentially accelerating their path to discharge.
But a growing backlog means borrowers who have already paid into the program are stuck. They've sent their money and are waiting for ED to verify their payments, update their qualifying counts, and process any resulting forgiveness. For some, the difference between 118 and 120 qualifying payments is a matter of a few hundred dollars and a Buyback application that sits unprocessed for months.
The Buyback program was introduced in 2021 to address a policy flaw: borrowers who worked in public service during the COVID-19 payment moratorium (March 2020 – September 2023) did not receive PSLF credit for those months because they weren't making payments. The Buyback allows these borrowers to pay a lump sum to retroactively count those months toward the 120-payment requirement.
The math is straightforward: if you worked in qualifying public service for 24 months during the moratorium and contributed $4,000 to the Buyback program, those 24 months would be credited immediately. If you were already at 96 qualifying payments, the Buyback would push you to 120 and trigger immediate forgiveness.
The problem: verification takes time. The Department must:
Each step requires manual verification. With 88,170 applications in queue, the Department is processing roughly 4,400 per month. At that pace, an application submitted today might not be processed until November 2026.
The more alarming data point: the Department reported zero IDR loan discharges for the entire month of February 2026. That's the second consecutive month with no forgiveness processing. The reason is structural — the Department runs discharge eligibility checks every other month rather than on a rolling basis. The most recent check ran in January and was processed in early March.
That means borrowers who became eligible for forgiveness in the past two months have received nothing. And the backlog isn't theoretical — the Department's own court filings show that many borrowers became eligible under existing IDR plans within the past 11 months but have not yet received discharges due to what ED describes as "technical limitations and ongoing legal complications."
What the Department is signaling: In its latest status report, ED indicated that forgiveness approvals could increase "significantly" during the second half of March 2026. If that materializes, a wave of borrowers could see their balances zeroed out in the coming weeks. But until it happens, it remains a projection, not a commitment.
There is one piece of relatively positive news: the overall IDR processing backlog has dropped from nearly 2 million in April 2025 to 576,609 as of the end of February 2026. That's a steep decline, but over half a million borrowers are still waiting for their income-driven repayment plan requests to be processed. Until those applications clear, those borrowers cannot accrue qualifying payments toward forgiveness.
The backlog reduction was driven partly by the Department's increased processing capacity and partly by the SAVE plan settlement, which eliminated a large class of applications that were in administrative limbo. But the remaining 576,609 are real people making payments (or in forbearance) without clarity on their repayment terms.
Adding urgency: the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) launches on July 1, 2026, and it will be the only income-driven option for new borrowers or those with loans disbursed after that date. Current Parent PLUS borrowers who have not yet applied for PSLF face a hard deadline — they must consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan and enroll in an IBR plan before June 30, 2026. After that date, Parent PLUS borrowers will not be eligible for RAP, which means they will lose access to PSLF entirely.
That's a 93-day window from today. If you hold Parent PLUS loans and have been counting on PSLF, the clock is running.
Here's why this matters: Parent PLUS loans are NOT eligible for PSLF. Period. The only way a Parent PLUS borrower can access PSLF is to consolidate the Parent PLUS loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan, which then becomes PSLF-eligible. However, the consolidation must happen before July 1, 2026, AND the borrower must enroll in an IDR plan (currently IBR; after July 1, RAP) before that date.
If you miss the June 30 deadline, your Parent PLUS loans will remain Parent PLUS. You can still consolidate after July 1, but you will not be eligible for RAP—only for IBR or older income-driven plans. This is a meaningful difference in terms, and more importantly, it is effectively a loss of PSLF eligibility for Parent PLUS balances.
Any Parent PLUS borrower working in qualifying public service should consolidate immediately. If you have 5 years of PSLF-eligible employment already, you can accrue only 5 more years on an IDR plan and hit 120 payments, triggering immediate forgiveness. Waiting until after June 30 wastes that advantage.
If you're waiting on a PSLF Buyback application: Document your payment confirmation and submission date. If you submitted before January 2026 and haven't received a status update, contact your servicer and request a written timeline. Keep records of every interaction.
If you're waiting on IDR forgiveness: Check your qualifying payment count at StudentAid.gov. If your count shows 240+ payments (for standard IDR forgiveness) or 120+ payments (for PSLF), and you haven't received a discharge notification, you may be caught in the processing gap. The expected late-March surge could resolve your case — but don't assume it will.
If you hold Parent PLUS loans: Start the consolidation process now. Direct Consolidation Loan applications take 30–60 days to process, and you need to be enrolled in IBR before June 30. Waiting until May is a risk you don't need to take.
Despite the PSLF Buyback backlog, the Department signaled in its latest court filing that IDR discharge approvals may increase "significantly" in the second half of March 2026. Here's what that could mean:
The January batch of IDR-eligible borrowers is being processed now. Hundreds of thousands who reached 240 qualifying payments on standard IDR plans (or 120+ for PSLF) will receive approval letters in March. Discharge will follow 2–4 weeks later, meaning loan balances hit zero in April and early May.
For borrowers waiting on PSLF Buyback: this surge will not directly affect you because Buyback processing is separate from IDR processing. However, the surge demonstrates that the Department has the operational capacity to process large volumes. Once the Buyback backlog is addressed, similar surge in processing is possible.
If you submitted a PSLF Buyback application: You are in a queue. Processing is slower than IDR, but movement is happening. Expect to hear something between March and June 2026. Track your application status at StudentAid.gov and follow up if you don't hear anything after 90 days.
If you're a Parent PLUS borrower with PSLF aspirations: Do not delay. Consolidate now. The June 30 deadline is 93 days away. Consolidation takes 30–60 days, so applying by May 1 gives you buffer room. After consolidation, enroll in IBR immediately and document your public service employment. Once July 1 arrives, you can apply to switch to RAP, which provides better terms.
If you're waiting on IDR forgiveness: Check your payment count at StudentAid.gov. If you're at 240+ (or 120+ for PSLF) and haven't received an approval notification, you may be in the March processing wave. By late March or early April, forgiveness discharge should follow.
As this article noted earlier, IDR forgiveness (but not PSLF forgiveness) is now taxable as of 2026. When the discharge wave hits in March–May, hundreds of thousands of borrowers will receive forgiveness—and hundreds of thousands will owe taxes on it.
A $50,000 IDR forgiveness + your regular income could push your tax bracket higher and create a $15,000+ tax bill. PSLF forgiveness? $0 in taxes. This is a critical reason to prioritize PSLF if you qualify for public service work.
RepayPath is an independent educational resource published by CMBMV LLC. We are not affiliated with the Department of Education or any loan servicer. This article is for informational purposes only — not financial or legal advice. Consult a qualified advisor before making loan decisions.