The Trump administration’s recent changes to student loans are causing frustration and confusion for some borrowers.
In response to a February court ruling that blocked some Biden-era programs, the Education Department has taken down online and paper applications for income-driven repayment plans.
“This especially hurts anyone who’s lost their jobs, including federal workers,” said Natalia Abrams, founder and president of the Student Debt Crisis Center. “A few months ago, they would have been able to get on a zero-dollar income-driven repayment plan.”
The removal of application materials also has caused confusion around the recertification process for borrowers already enrolled in repayment plans, experts say. Income-driven repayment plans take a borrower’s finances and family size into account when calculating monthly payments, but borrowers must periodically demonstrate they still qualify.
Adding to the uncertainty are layoffs at the Education Department, which oversees the federal loan system. The federal website for student loans and financial aid, StudentAid.gov, suffered an hours-long outage Wednesday, but the department has said it will continue to deliver on its commitments.
“It’s been wave after wave of bad news for student borrowers,” said Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center.
Here’s some guidance for those with student loans.
Check with your loan servicer and know your options
All borrowers currently enrolled in income-driven repayment plans should “get a sense of when your recertification deadline is and get a sense of what options are available to you if the form is not available online to recertify your income,” Bañez said.
Recertification confirms a borrower’s financial situation. With some forms not currently available, borrowers who are unable to complete that process could be in jeopardy.
If borrowers are already on an income-driven repayment plan, they should still be allowed to remain on that repayment plan if they are able to recertify their income.
Abrams said it’s also a good idea to take screenshots of your account’s current status on the student aid website.
What other resources are available?
State-specific and state-level resources are available for student borrowers. Congress members have teams charged with helping constituents if they are having trouble with a federal agency or struggling to contact a federal student loan servicer.
Borrowers may contact their representatives in Congress and open a casework file by going onto their website or calling their office.
“Try saying something like, ‘I need your help to understand how to get into an affordable repayment option, which I’m entitled to under the law,’” Bañez said. “‘Even though this federal department has taken down these applications, I need your help.’”
Despite the thinning of the Education Department and President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, loan servicers still must consider a borrower’s financial situation, Bañez said.
“You can see if you can get temporary forbearance or a deferment of payments for financial hardship,” she said.
State attorneys general also take inquiries from student borrowers.
What are affected borrowers saying?
Jessica Fugate, a government relations manager for the city of Los Angeles, said she was a less than a year from student loan forgiveness under the Biden-era Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives outstanding loans after 120 payments.
With an ongoing court challenge to her former SAVE payment plan, though, Fugate hoped to switch to an income-driven plan before Trump took office. She applied in January.
“It’s the most affordable option to repay my loans while living in Los Angeles working for the government on a government salary,” said Fugate, 42. “And it would mean my payments counted towards forgiveness.”
As of February, Fugate notified that her application was received and she had been notified of its status, but they didn’t say when she would know if she was approved.
“And when I called recently, the machine said there was a four hour wait,” she said.
With income-driven repayment plans in limbo, Fugate isn’t sure what her options are and hopes to one day have her federal loans behind her.
“I’ve been working for government for almost 10 years. After that much time, you don’t do it for the glory,” she said. “I’ve spent most of my career giving back to other people. I don’t mind serving people. I just feel this was an agreement they made with the public, and so we’re owed that. And it’s a lot of us. And we’re not just numbers.”
Debbie Breen, 56, works at an agency on healthy aging in Spokane, Washington. Breen said she has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 10 years and that nearly all those years counted toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Breen also was on the Biden-era SAVE plan, which means she was placed in forbearance when the court challenge to that plan was upheld. Like Fugate, she had planned to switch to an income-driven repayment plan to have her payments count towards forgiveness.
“I was months away from ending this nightmare,” she said. “Now I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m kind of in panic mode because I know that if they stop income-driven repayment plans, I don’t know that I’m going to be able to afford the payments each month.”
Breen said she has two kids who also have student loans.
“They’re dealing with the same thing,” she said. “It’s scary. It’s absolutely scary.”
