The Education Department has suspended some income-driven student loan repayment plans. Here’s what borrowers should know

The recent changes to the Trump administration in student loans caused frustration and confusion to some borrowers.

In response to the February Court ruling, which prevented some Biden era programs, the Ministry of Education has reduced requests via the Internet and paper for income -dependent payment plans.

“This hurts anyone who has lost their jobs in particular, including federal workers,” said Natalia Abrams, founder and head of the Student Dion Crisis Center. “A few months ago, they could have a zero -income -based payment plan.”

Experts say that the removal of app materials has also caused confusion about the rehabilitation process of borrowers already registered in the payment plans. Income -based payment plans take financial resources for the borrower and the size of the family in mind when calculating monthly payments, but borrowers must prove that they are still qualified.

In addition to uncertainty are demobilization operations in the Ministry of Education, which oversees the federal loan system. The federal site for student loans and financial aid, Studentaid.gov, suffered a break for hours on Wednesday, but the administration said it would continue to fulfill its obligations.

“It was a wave of bad news for student borrowers.”

Here are some directives for those who have student loans.

Check with your loan service and know your options

Panz said that all borrowers are currently registered in income -dependent payment plans, they must “feel the deadline of rehabilitation and feeling options available to you if the model is not available online to rehabilitate your income.”

Rehabilitation confirms the financial situation of the borrower. With some currents currently not available, borrowers who cannot complete this process can be in danger.

If borrowers are already on an income -dependent payment plan, they should still be allowed to stay in this payment plan if they can rehabilitate their income.

Abrams said it is also good to capture screenshots for your current case on AID for students.

What are the other resources available?

The resources of the state and the state level are available for student borrowers. Members of Congress have teams accused of helping voters if they face a problem with a federal agency or are struggling to contact a federal student loan employee.

B discurites can contact their representatives in Congress and open the CASWORK file by moving to their website or calling their office.

“Try to say something like,” I need your help to understand how to enter into a reasonable payment option, which I have the right to obtain the law. “Although this federal administration has dropped these requests, I need your assistance.”

Panz said that despite the thinning of the Ministry of Education and the dismantling of President Donald Trump to the Consumer Protection Office, loan employees still have to consider the financial situation of the borrower.

“You can find out if you can get temporary patience or postpone payments for financial difficulties,” she said.

The state’s general prosecutor is also inquiring from student borrowers.

What are the affected borrowers?

Jessica Vujett, director of government relations in Los Angeles, said that she was less than a year of forgiveness in the student loan under the forgiveness program in the public service loan during the Biden era, which forgives prominent loans after 120 paid.

By a continuous court challenge to the previous payment plan, Fugate was hoping to turn into an income -dependent plan before Trump took office. I applied in January.

“It is the most reasonable option to pay my loans while living in Los Angeles to work in a governmental salary,” said Fujet, 42.

As of February, Fugate reported that her request had been notified of her status, but they did not say when she would know if she had been approved.

“And when I recently called, the machine said that there was waiting for four hours,” she said.

With income -dependent payment plans, Fugate is not sure of its options and one day hopes that it will have its federal loans behind it.

“I have been working in the government for nearly 10 years. After this time long, don’t do it for glory.” “I spent most of my career in returning the favor to other people. I don’t mind serving people. I just feel that this was an agreement they made with the audience, so we owe it. This is many of us. We are not just numbers.”

Deby Brene, 56, works as an agency on healthy aging in Spokan, Washington. Brain said that she worked in the non -profit sector for more than 10 years and that almost all of these years were calculated on the remission of the public service loan.

Brain was also in the Piden era, which means that she was put in patience when the court challenge was supported by that plan. Like Fugate, she was planning to switch to an income -based payment plan for her payments towards forgiveness.

“I was months away from the end of this nightmare,” she said. “Now I don’t think this will happen. I am a kind of panic because I know that if they stop the income -dependent payment plans, I do not know that I will be able to carry payments every month.”

Breen said that she also had two children who have student loans.

She said, “They deal with the same thing.” “It’s frightening. It’s very frightening.”

This story was originally shown on Fortune.com

2025-03-14 13:08:00