Summary
Student loan borrowers fear worsened conditions under Donald Trump, who has criticized debt relief and oversaw a 99% rejection rate for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) during his first term.
Many borrowers remain in limbo awaiting forgiveness, while others struggle with ballooning debt despite decades of payments.
Borrowers expect Trump to scale back or eliminate relief programs initiated by Joe Biden, which have forgiven $166.5 billion in loans.
Critics highlight flaws in the existing system, calling it a “nightmare” for those seeking relief.
I’m on an IDR plan (no idea which one at this point, no idea what’s going on with any of it because they keep throwing it into forbearance…)
I don’t make enough to pay it, so after the first year when I got set up with IDR, I haven’t paid a penny.
I graduated with like $17k in debt, and less than a decade later it’s like 30k. I have no intention of ever making another payment. No point. I’d never get through the interest anyway.
Its… Income based… As much as I hate loans of all the loan options its the easiest for many people because you only have to pay such a small fraction of your income to repay it 5-10% most common… And if you’re compliant, they forgive it anyways after 20 years.
I didn’t take that option but many of my friends did. Also, anyone taking out loans whether it be house, car, etc I believe should know what terms are and select what works best for their life.
Most people dont know what the terms mean, let alone the terms on their actual loan. When i bought my new car, i paid less than $300 in total interest across the 4 year loan. Understanding those financial terms is so beneficial. We really need to teach it better to high schoolers
Very good point. I was fortunate enough to take a finance class in high school and be very vigilant, so theres some privledge there.
I think its been said like 1/3 people aren’t financially literate both in US and globally in general.
Yeah, I know it’s income based. That’s why I haven’t made enough to pay it.
What I mean is there were several income-based options, and idk which one I’m on or was on, and idk if that’s still the case because I’ve chosen to do absolutely nothing with my student loans beyond what I’m specifically required to do (was hoping for forgiveness to go through but that didn’t happen). So I’ve only had to file one proof of income form, for example, even though it should have been yearly.
I knew the terms at the time, but it’s been a while so meh.