By
Adam S. Minsky, Senior Contributor
7/15/25
Earlier this month,
President Donald Trump signed the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill ,” a massive
budget reconciliation bill passed by Republicans in Congress that will slash
taxes and cut government spending, in part by fundamentally reshaping the federal
student loan system. Many borrowers currently in repayment on their student
loans, as well as prospective students and families with college-bound
children, will be impacted, as they will have fewer repayment options and
limited student loan forgiveness pathways.
The good news is that
while the changes to student loan programs are substantial, many of these
reforms are not immediate. Borrowers have at least a little time to take stock
of these reforms and the upcoming changes, and prepare for next steps. Here’s what
borrowers should be doing.
Budget For Higher Student Loan Payments
Many student loan
borrowers will eventually have higher monthly payments as a result of the new
legislation. That’s because the bill repeals the SAVE and PAYE plans, two of
the most affordable income-driven repayment options. IDR plans allow student
loan borrowers to make payments based on a formula applied to their income,
with the possibility of student loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years. The bill
also repeals the ICR plan, an older income-driven plan. But Income-Based
Repayment, or IBR, would be preserved for current borrowers.
The repeal is not
immediate. ICR, SAVE, and PAYE will be phased out by July 1, 2028. By or before
that time, borrowers will have to choose between IBR or the Repayment
Assistance Plan, a new income-driven option created by the bill. That doesn’t
necessarily mean that borrowers will be able to maintain access to the legacy
plans for three more years; July 1, 2028 is just the absolute final cutoff date
provided under the legislation. But borrowers do have some time.
Many student loan
borrowers will see higher payments under both IBR and RAP compared to SAVE or
PAYE. For example, an undergraduate borrower with annual income of $60,000
would have a payment of $250 per month under SAVE and $345 per month under
PAYE. But under IBR, their payments would be around $520 per month. RAP would
be slightly better at around $300 per month. Furthermore, the Big, Beautiful
Bill removes the “partial financial hardship” requirement for the IBR plan,
which means there will no longer be a cap or ceiling on IBR payments;
higher-income borrowers may see higher payments under IBR as a result.
Now is the time to start
preparing for higher monthly student loan payments, particularly for borrowers
in the SAVE plan. SAVE plan borrowers will almost universally have higher
payments under both IBR and RAP. In addition, SAVE plan borrowers may feel more
pressure to change plans sooner. For example, those who are pursuing student
loan forgiveness (particularly through Public Service Loan Forgiveness) may
want to consider switching to IBR now so that they can resume progress, given
that the SAVE plan forbearance has blocked loan forgiveness progress.
Furthermore, with the recent announcement by the Trump administration that the
Department of Education will resume interest charges on student loans enrolled
in the SAVE plan starting in August, SAVE plan borrowers may not want to wait
to change repayment plans. And if SAVE gets struck down by the courts (which is
still a distinct possibility), these borrowers could be forced into a different
repayment plan much sooner than expected.
Evaluate The RAP Student Loan Plan
Current student loan
borrowers enrolled in any of the existing income-driven repayment plans should
spend some time considering whether they will want to switch to IBR or to RAP,
the new option created under the bill. RAP has some real benefits, but it also
has some significant drawbacks.
The RAP plan uses a
different formula than the current income-driven repayment plan options. This
ultimately results in the lowest-income borrowers having higher payments under
RAP than they would under the existing IDR plans, while many middle and higher
income earners would have payments under RAP that could be more affordable than
IBR (but not as affordable as SAVE or PAYE). RAP also has some unique benefits
including an interest subsidy that will prevent loan balances from ballooning
if payments aren’t high enough to cover interest, and a loan principal subsidy
of up to $50 per month.
But RAP also has some
downsides. Notably, for borrowers not pursing PSLF, RAP has a 30-year repayment
term before a borrower could qualify for student loan forgiveness. This means
five to 10 additional years in repayment as compared to SAVE, PAYE, and IBR.
And while some borrowers will have lower monthly payments under RAP compared to
IBR, the cost of those additional years in repayment could ultimately offset
those savings. Another downside is that RAP uses a tiered repayment formula,
with an increasing percentage of income that is counted toward payments as the
borrower’s income rises. But the RAP repayment formula is not tied to
inflation, which means that over time, more borrowers will have to pay a higher
percentage of their income.
RAP isn’t available yet,
so no one can apply. RAP should be launched no later than July 1, 2026. Now is
the time for student loan borrowers to consider the pros and cons of RAP so
that they can make an informed decision, particularly borrowers who are currently
in the SAVE or PAYE plans and will be forced to make a decision as those plans
are phased out.
Parent PLUS Borrowers
Should Consider Student Loan Consolidation
Parent PLUS loans, a type
of federal student loan issued to the parent of an undergraduate student, have
always had fewer repayment options compared to other federal student loans. But
those options are about to get even narrower under the Big, Beautiful Bill.
In general, Parent PLUS
loans are ineligible for income-driven repayment. The exception is that
borrowers who consolidate their Parent PLUS loans into a federal Direct
consolidation loan can access the ICR plan, the oldest and more expensive of
the income-driven options. More recently, some Parent PLUS borrowers were able
to “double consolidate” their loans and enroll in SAVE or PAYE.
Under the Big, Beautiful
Bill, Parent PLUS borrowers who have already consolidated their loans and
enrolled in any existing income-driven repayment plan would be able to switch
to the IBR plan by July 1, 2028. This may actually lower the monthly payments
for some borrowers, as IBR tends to be more affordable than ICR (although as
noted above, it may be more expensive than SAVE or PAYE). But all other Parent
PLUS borrowers would be completely cut off from any income-driven
repayment option. This would also effectively block Parent PLUS borrowers from
most federal student loan forgiveness programs, including PSLF.
Parent PLUS borrowers
would have until July 1, 2026 to consolidate their loans in order to be
“excepted” under the bill, and they would have to enroll in income-driven
repayment before July 1, 2028 to be grandfathered into IBR. This may put some
Parent PLUS borrowers in a bind, as income-driven repayment may not be
particularly affordable for certain Parent PLUS borrowers based on their
present financial circumstances. But taking these steps now could preserve
access to income-driven repayment later. Now is the time for Parent PLUS
borrowers to consider whether consolidating and enrolling in income-driven
repayment may make sense in the long run.
Strategize To Avoid Taking
Out New Student Loans Next Year
While repayment plan
options are narrowing for all federal student loan borrowers under the Big,
Beautiful Bill, they will be even narrower for those who take out new loans on
or after July 1, 2026. Doing so would limit borrowers to only the Standard plan
and RAP. That means borrowers currently in repayment on their student loans who
take out a new federal loan on or after July 1, 2026 would lose access to IBR
(and potentially other existing plans, like the Extended or Graduated plan).
This is particularly
important for Parent PLUS borrowers. Taking out a new student loan on or after
July 1, 2026 would limit Parent PLUS borrowers to only the
Standard repayment plan, since even consolidated Parent PLUS loans are
ineligible for RAP. These borrowers would, thus, lose access to any
income-driven repayment plan option, as well as student loan forgiveness under
both IDR and PSLF.
So, current borrowers
should be very careful and should try to avoid taking out new federal student
loans next year and beyond. If you are thinking about returning to school, or
if you are a Parent PLUS borrower with additional college-bound children, this
means you may need to make some difficult decisions about whether it’s worth it
to rely on costlier and risker private student loans if you can’t pay out of
pocket, or whether you should go to a different school (or postpone a degree
altogether).
Review Student Loan
Dispute Options
The federal student loan
system appears to be steadily deteriorating as borrowers face increasing
application backlogs and delays, student loan forgiveness counts appear to not
be updating properly , and loan servicers are plagued by long call hold times
and confusing correspondence. The Big, Beautiful Bill will increase funding for
student loan servicers, but it guts funding for the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog agency that oversees the financial
services sector. And this week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump
administration to proceed in laying off much of the Department of Education’s
staff, impacting units like the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group, which has
handled borrower disputes.
Taken together, this means
that student loan borrowers will have fewer options when things go wrong.
Borrowers should be prepared for the possibility that loan servicers, the
Department of Education, and the CFPB will be unable to assist with any disputes.
Now is the time to start familiarizing yourself with alternative dispute
options. These can include state student loan ombudsman offices (many, but not
all, states have these), as well as working with your congressperson’s office.
By Adam S. Minsky, Senior
Contributor
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