Key Takeaways

• PAYE is scheduled to end no later than July 1, 2028, meaning some dentists currently using the plan will eventually need to choose another repayment option.
• Income-Based Repayment (IBR) remains available for certain borrowers, but payment amounts and repayment periods vary depending in part on when the loans were taken out.
• The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) became available July 1, 2026, and may offer another income-driven option, with repayment terms of up to 30 years.
• The lowest monthly payment isn’t necessarily the best financial choice; dentists should consider total repayment time and how student loan payments affect practice cash flow, taxes, retirement savings, and other goals.
• Married dentists should consider the broader tax implications before changing filing status to potentially reduce an income-driven loan payment.
• Dentists pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness should carefully evaluate how a repayment-plan change could affect their strategy.

For many dentists, student loans remain a significant monthly expense long after dental school ends. A dentist may be building a practice, buying a home, starting a family, saving for retirement, and still sending a substantial payment to the federal government every month.

If that sounds familiar, recent changes to federal student loan repayment deserve your attention. The 2026 overhaul introduced new repayment options while phasing out others, and the changes don’t apply only to new graduates. Some dentists who have been making payments under the same plan for years will eventually need to choose a different one, potentially changing both their monthly payment and how long they’ll be paying on their loans. 

PAYE Is Going Away

One of the biggest changes affects borrowers enrolled in the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) repayment plan. Under PAYE, eligible borrowers generally pay 10% of discretionary income and have a 20-year repayment period. But PAYE is scheduled to end no later than July 1, 2028. Borrowers who won’t reach the end of their repayment period before then will need to move to another eligible plan. 

For some dentists, that could be a meaningful financial change. One alternative for certain existing borrowers is Income-Based Repayment (IBR). But there are two versions of IBR, and the terms depend in part on when you became a borrower. Some borrowers are generally subject to payments of 15% of discretionary income for 25 years, while qualifying newer borrowers generally pay 10% for 20 years. 

That means two dentists with similar incomes and student loan balances could face very different repayment options simply because of when their loans were taken out.

There’s Also a New Repayment Assistance Plan

As of July 1, 2026, borrowers can also consider the new income-driven Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). It is available for eligible Direct Loans and uses income to determine monthly payments, with a repayment period of up to 30 years. 

RAP may be the right choice for some borrowers, but a lower or more manageable payment today doesn’t mean it will cost less over the life of the loan. A repayment period of up to 30 years makes it important to consider both the immediate payment and the longer-term cost. 

Why This Matters So Much for Dentists

Dentists can carry significant student debt while also facing financial decisions that many other borrowers don’t. You may be deciding whether to purchase a practice, expand an existing one, buy into a partnership, acquire real estate, increase retirement contributions, or pay down other debt. Your student loan payment affects the cash available for all of those things and the loan terms for which you can qualify.

Consider a dentist who still has a significant dental school loan balance and is currently paying $1,000 a month under PAYE. If moving to another repayment plan eventually increases her payment to $1,400, that’s an additional $4,800 a year that may otherwise have gone toward retirement contributions, practice reserves, a down payment on a building, or other debt.

The opposite can also be true. A plan that keeps her payment closer to $1,000 but extends repayment for additional years may preserve cash flow today while keeping student debt around much longer.

Neither option is automatically better. What matters is how much she’ll pay, for how long, and how each choice affects her other financial priorities.

Don’t Look at Your Student Loans in Isolation

For a dentist who owns a practice, taxable income isn’t necessarily static from year to year. Practice profitability, compensation, retirement contributions, a practice acquisition or sale, and other financial decisions can affect your broader tax and potentially your income-driven student loan payments.

Marital status can matter as well. Federal Student Aid notes that under RAP and IBR, joint income is generally considered for married borrowers filing jointly, while individual income is generally used for those filing separately. But tax filing status affects much more than student loan payments, so choosing married filing separately simply to lower a loan payment could potentially increase taxes or have other financial consequences. 

What Should You Do Now?

First, don’t assume you need to change plans immediately simply because you’ve heard that repayment rules have changed. PAYE isn’t scheduled to disappear until 2028, and the plans available to you depend on your specific loans and borrowing history. 

Instead, use the time to understand where you stand. Log into your Federal Student Aid account and confirm your current repayment plan, loan types, balances, and original disbursement dates. Federal Student Aid’s repayment tools can help you compare available plans and estimated payments based on your individual loans. 

As you compare them, don’t focus solely on the smallest monthly payment. Consider how each option fits with your tax situation, cash flow, and longer-term goals. 

If you’re pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, be particularly careful before changing plans. RAP and IBR can qualify for PSLF when the other program requirements are met, while repayment-plan changes can affect your strategy. 

Student Debt Is Part of Your Bigger Financial Picture

If you’ve built your financial plans around a particular payment and repayment timeline, being required to move to another plan can still have a meaningful impact. The good news is that most affected borrowers have some time to prepare. 

At Edwards & Associates, we believe decisions about student loans shouldn’t be made in a vacuum. For dentists balancing student debt with practice ownership, taxes, retirement savings, investments, and other financial priorities, the goal isn’t simply to get the lowest student loan payment. It’s to determine how your repayment strategy fits into the financial future you’re trying to build.

If you’re still paying dental school loans, don’t evaluate your repayment options in a vacuum. Your student debt intersects with taxes, cash flow, practice ownership, retirement savings, and other financial priorities. Talk with your Edwards & Associates advisor about how the changing repayment options may affect your broader financial plan before you make a change.