AUSTIN, Texas — Recent changes at the Department of Education have sparked frustration among student loan borrowers.
The department has suspended certain Biden administration repayment programs, leading to severe impacts for some.
Attorney Ashley Morgan said she’s been repaying her student loans through an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan for the past eight years. Now Morgan said her monthly payments are set to skyrocket.
“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,” Morgan said. “When it’s not based on your income, it’s not affordable.”
The IDR plan, which assists over 12 million borrowers by basing payments on income and family size, has been disrupted by an injunction that blocked the Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.
IDR forms have been removed from the Federal Student Aid website, preventing borrowers from applying or recertifying their income.
“I just wish that it was done in a more thoughtful way. And that middle class people had more notice because most of us are living paycheck to paycheck,” Morgan said. “We can’t just sit around and wait, have our loan payments quadruple, and try to figure that out.”
With mass layoffs already beginning at the Department of Education and President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the agency altogether, Morgan worries the situation will get worse. She said she’s already contacted lawmakers for answers and urges others to do the same.
“I think something needs to be done at the governmental level,” Morgan said. “But until that happens, people need to share their stories and let their congressional representatives know this issue is hurting the middle class.”