Millions of Americans are experiencing significant increases in their student loan costs—some well over 350%—thanks to the actions of Republican attorneys general.
Under former President Joe Biden, billions of dollars in student loans were forgiven as part of his attempts to give breathing room to middle-class families. But Republicans opposed these plans, and even after winning a Supreme Court case that significantly reduced the number of Americans who would be helped, a court challenge was filed against Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education plan.
SAVE reduced payments for student loans based on how much income the borrower makes, adjusting costs to ease the burden of their financial obligation. Millions of people were helped.
But last month, in response to the Republican lawsuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit expanded an injunction that blocks borrowers from using the SAVE plan. Now those costs are skyrocketing.
Ashley Morgan, an attorney in Austin, Texas, told local television station KVUE how the change has affected her.
“I saw that my payments were going to more than quadruple—from $507.19 a month to $2,463.58 a month—starting in April,” she explained. “What do I do now? Do I have to sell my house or sell my car?”
The lawsuit also led to the Department of Education, which administers student loan programs, removing forms from the repayment plan from its website—so borrowers cannot apply or certify their income.
Jane Fox, an attorney and chapter chair of a Legal Aid Society union, told Marketplace, “What is likely to happen is that millions of Americans will be sent bills for their student loans that they will not be able to pay.”
“If you don’t know what your student loan payment is going to be next month, so many economic decisions ripple out from that, right? People can’t make decisions about whether they can take a different job, whether they can move. Can they pay down their credit cards?” she added.
To compound problems, Trump is trying to abolish the Department of Education. Without the agency in place to manage millions of student loan issues, millions of borrowers will be left in the lurch.
The Trump administration has tried to argue that education is merely a state issue, but the chaos triggered by Republican actions highlights the need for a federal response and a system to coordinate between the states on educational needs.
According to Pew Research Center, Americans owe about $1.6 trillion in student loans as of June 2024, and much of that debt is held by Americans under the age of 40.
The student loan mess is yet another area where Republican actions are negatively affecting the cost of living. Simultaneously, Trump has imposed a haphazard series of tariffs contributing to price increases.
With a possible recession looming, families are being squeezed but the GOP won’t stop.
