IDR Tracker: How to Use It to Track Loan Forgiveness Progress

Updated on January 18, 2025

The Education Department has introduced the IDR Tracker on StudentAid.gov, allowing borrowers to monitor their progress toward loan forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans.

This tool is a part of the IDR Waiver (also known as the payment count adjustment). It reviews and updates payment histories to ensure all qualifying payments are counted. It also provides a clear timeline showing how many more payments you need before your loans are forgiven.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is the IDR Tracker

The IDR Tracker, also called the IDR payment counter, is a feature on StudentAid.gov that displays your progress toward loan forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans. It shows the number of qualifying payments you’ve made, the number remaining, and an estimated forgiveness date. You can also view a detailed month-by-month breakdown of payments, indicating which months count toward forgiveness.

Overview screen.

This tracker uses updated records from the IDR Waiver to ensure past payments, including some previously overlooked, are now accurately counted toward IDR Forgiveness.

This tool provides clarity on your status and helps you understand your forgiveness timeline based on qualifying payments for time spent in any repayment plan, and certain periods of forbearance and deferment going back to 1994.

Loan detail

Where to Find Your Total IDR Payment Count

You can check your payment count on your StudentAid.gov dashboard. If you don’t see the tracker right away, don’t panic—here’s why:

  • The Department of Education is still rolling out updates to the system, which can cause delays or gaps in data. Check back periodically to see if the tracker appears.

  • If the tracker isn’t visible, it doesn’t mean you’re excluded from the one-time account adjustment. Borrowers with loans held by the Department of Education remain eligible, even if their tracker data is temporarily unavailable.

  • The Department is working to modernize decades-old systems, so temporary issues like missing data are part of this process. Your eligibility or payment count won’t be affected in the long run.

Note: If the tracker becomes available later, take a screenshot or save the data. This can help you track your progress and protect against future discrepancies.

Who Qualifies for the IDR Account Adjustment?

Not all loans are eligible for the one-time IDR account adjustment. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you figure out where you stand:

✅ Eligible Loans

  • Direct Loans: Includes Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, and Direct PLUS loans.

  • FFEL Loans Held by the Department of Education: Only government-owned FFEL loans qualify.

  • Perkins Loans Held by the Department of Education: These loans are eligible if managed by the Department.

❌ Ineligible Loans

  • Commercially Held FFEL Loans: If a private lender still owns your FFEL loan, it’s not eligible.

  • Perkins Loans Held by Schools: Unless your school transferred the loan to the Department, it doesn’t qualify.

  • Private Loans: Loans from private lenders don’t count for the adjustment at all.

Related: FFEL Loan Forgiveness After 20 Years

Why the IDR Tracker Matters

For the first time in 30 years, borrowers can finally see exactly where they stand on their path to loan forgiveness. Before now, there was no way to track how many payments counted toward forgiveness or how much time remained. This lack of transparency left borrowers in the dark and vulnerable to errors from servicers.

Here’s why this matters:

  • It corrects past mistakes. Borrowers with older loans (especially from 1996–2016) faced issues like data loss or miscoded payments due to frequent servicer transfers. The IDR Tracker addresses these errors, showing updated payment counts from the IDR Waiver.

  • It offers peace of mind. With clear and accurate information about qualifying payments, borrowers can trust their forgiveness timeline for the first time.

  • It protects against future errors. Taking screenshots or saving printouts of your tracker data creates a backup. If discrepancies pop up later, you’ll have proof of your progress.

How the IDR Tracker Works

The IDR Tracker gives borrowers a clear view of their path to loan forgiveness. Here’s what it does:

  • Shows your total qualifying payments made so far.

  • Tells you how many payments are left before forgiveness.

  • Provides an estimated forgiveness date based on your specific IDR plan.

  • Breaks down your payment history month-by-month, showing which payments qualify and why.

If a payment doesn’t qualify, the tracker includes a reason, like forbearance or deferment periods. This transparency helps you understand gaps in your payment history.

Borrowers with older loans from 1996–2016 might still see data gaps caused by issues like servicer transfers or lost records. While the tracker is working to fix these errors, patience is needed as updates roll out.

For borrowers on plans like SAVE, some payments may currently show as ineligible due to ongoing litigation. These payments are expected to count once the legal disputes are resolved. Check back periodically to stay updated.

Qualifying payments screen

What If Your IDR Tracker Is Wrong?

If your IDR Tracker looks off, here’s what to do:

  • Review the Tracker Data: Use the filters to check for “not qualifying” payments. Look for patterns like ineligible months caused by forbearance or deferment.

  • Document Your Progress: Take screenshots or print out your tracker data, including payment history and loan details. This serves as proof in case discrepancies arise later.

  • File a Complaint with the FSA Ombudsman: Submit a formal request to the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group to review your payment history. The process may take time, but it’s a key step in addressing errors.

  • Provide Supporting Documents: If you have old payment records or loan statements, include them with your complaint. Even if you don’t, the FSA can often reconstruct your history using their tools.

  • Get Expert Help: If the Ombudsman process feels overwhelming, consider consulting a student loan lawyer or advocate. They can escalate your case and work with specialized teams at the Department of Education.

Common Causes for Missing Payments

  • Consolidation: Loan histories sometimes don’t fully transfer after consolidation.

  • Loan Transfers: Servicer changes can result in lost or incomplete records.

  • Outdated Systems: Older loans issued before 2000 were often stored on systems that make data retrieval difficult.

Related: How Do I Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness After 25 Years?

What If Scenarios About the IDR Payment Count Tracker

What If You’ve Met the Payment Threshold (240 or 300 Payments)?

If you’ve made 240 payments (20 years) or 300 payments (25 years) and reached the forgiveness threshold, here’s what to do based on your repayment plan:

If you’re on the SAVE Plan, forgiveness cannot currently be processed due to ongoing legal challenges. To move forward, you’ll need to switch to a plan like Income-Based Repayment (IBR). The Biden administration recently cleared over $600 million in debt for borrowers who made this switch.

If you’re on a plan like IBR or PAYE, make sure the IDR Tracker confirms you’ve met the required payments. If the tracker doesn’t reflect your progress, escalate the issue through the FSA Ombudsman.

What If You’re Enrolled in the SAVE Plan and Near Forgiveness?

The SAVE Plan offers many benefits, but it’s not currently reliable for forgiveness if you’ve hit the payment threshold. Legal challenges have temporarily blocked forgiveness under SAVE, PAYE, and Income-Contingent Repayment.

  • Switch to IBR: To avoid delays, switch to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. This plan is not affected by legal challenges and remains the safest option for processing forgiveness.

  • How to Switch: Use the “Switch IDR Plans” feature on StudentAid.gov to move from SAVE to IBR. The process is simple and ensures your forgiveness won’t be delayed.

IDR plans compared

What If Your Payment History Shows You Haven’t Met the Threshold, But You Think You Have?

If the IDR Tracker says you haven’t made enough payments, but you believe otherwise, take steps to resolve the discrepancy:

File a Complaint: Submit a formal complaint through the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Center to request a full review of your payment history. This is especially critical if you have older loans or have consolidated in the past.

Provide Evidence: Include any old statements, payment confirmations, or other records that support your case. These documents help the Ombudsman reconstruct your payment history and fix errors.

Bottom Line

Before leaving office, the Biden administration made a major move to fix broken payment counts and bring clarity to borrowers. Although it didn’t fully solve the challenges of the student loan system, it made big strides—like fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness and delivering relief to hundreds of thousands of borrowers.

If your payment count feels off or you’re confused about your options, don’t wait.

Book a call with a student loan expert and get the guidance you need to reach your loan forgiveness goals.

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