Some borrowers told me that they achieved student-loan forgiveness or repaid their loans in full. However, the majority of respondents reported a range of concerns about the future of their balances, including worries about losing a key affordable repayment plan, struggling to get help from their servicers, being in default on their loans, and more. Trump's "big beautiful" spending legislation includes the elimination of existing income-driven repayment plans and replacing them with two less generous options.
Misty Knapp just wants the student-loan forgiveness she was promised. Knapp, 59, has been working in public service as a nurse since 2012 and has been enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program since 2017, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. She said she didn't know PSLF existed when she entered public service, but once she saw it was possible to get her six-figure balance forgiven, she was banking on the relief.
From TikTok to Instagram, to local news headlines, the plan set off a storm of online criticism as influencers and advocacy groups take issue with the supposed declassification of certain degrees. But defining programs as professional or graduate isn't a debate about social prestige or cultural characterization; it's a debate about access to student loans, and now the Education Department is saying it's time to "set the record straight."
Student loan advocates and borrower protection groups across the country have spent much of the last five months preparing for a series of big changes Congress laid out regarding the student loan system. From limiting the amount students and families can borrow to cutting the number of repayment plans they'll have to choose from, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is one of the more significant overhauls to federal student aid in decades.
On Monday, the Department of Education will begin its second week of negotiations with stakeholders on President Donald Trump's plan to overhaul repayment plans and impose new caps on borrowing. The changes were codified in Trump's "big beautiful" spending bill, which he signed into law in July. The department is now undergoing negotiated rulemaking, a process that includes negotiation sessions and periods of public comment, with implementation set to begin in July 2026.
For a generation of young Americans, choosing where to go to college - or whether to go at all - has become a complex calculation of costs and benefits that often revolves around a single question: Is the degree worth its price?Public confidence in higher education has plummeted in recent years amid high tuition prices, skyrocketing student loans and a dismal job market - plus ideological concerns from conservatives.
This spring, my dreams came true: I was accepted to a tech-focused master's program at New York University for Fall 2025. After breaking into the tech industry, I thought this would be the next right step. I had been hopeful about receiving financial aid or scholarships, but none came through. I initially tried to convince myself that the $80,000 tuition was somehow manageable.
The Education Department's current rule-making session, in which committee members are determining how to implement new student loan policies, will be delayed by two weeks if Congress fails to pass legislation to keep the government open, Trump officials announced Monday morning. "There is the possibility-which seems to be growing by the hour-of a lapse in appropriations," one department official said during the rule-making session's commencement Monday. "Have no fear, however," he added, "we do have a contingency plan for that."
Despite high-profile federal actions against universities like Columbia University; the University of California, Los Angeles; and others over the past few months, many higher ed watchers, including me, have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. While civil rights investigations, demands for massive settlements, cuts to grant funding and threats to institutional accreditation have led to real-world consequences, no institution has lost access to federal student loans.
