Federal student loan changes are coming. Here’s what to do now

(CNN) - For those with federal student loans, there are big changes coming next month to how you can pay them back. But there are steps you can take now to save as much money as possible.

Changes are coming to the Federal Student Loan program on July 1, and just about everyone will be impacted.

“This has been the most significant amount of change we’ve seen almost ever but definitely since 1994,” said Stacey MacPhetres, the senior director of education finance at Bright Horizons.

For new borrowers, it means only two types of repayment options will be available to you.

All current income-driven plans will be gone, replaced with a single option of its kind: the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP. It’s also the only plan offering loan forgiveness moving forward. The other option is the Standard Repayment Plan.

If you currently have a federal student loan, you may need to act sooner rather than later as some types will be phased out. Experts say you should visit studentaid.gov to start.

“First and foremost, find out what you have for student loans. If you’re in repayment, take a look at what your repayment plan is, look at your overall strategy and identify what you have done or have been doing,” MacPhetres said.

More than 7 million borrowers were part of the SAVE plan, the ill-fated repayment plan created by the Biden administration. If you’re one of them, the clock will soon be ticking to make a decision or be automatically placed in what’s likely to be a more expensive plan.

“If they choose not to take action, their loans will be put into what is called a standard repayment, which for most people would be 120 equal payments. Your payment amount could be significantly higher and for most people, perhaps not attainable,” MacPhetres said.