Q: I’m already struggling to pay back my student loans. Will a Trump administration make it better or worse?
A: This is a tough one. President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans who now have a majority in both houses of Congress didn’t focus much on higher education during their campaigns, says Jason Delisle, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. That makes predicting the next four years of student loan policy tricky.
“We’re left a little bit empty-handed,” Delisle says.
But Trump recently spoke about simplifying a program that lets student loan borrowers repay their loans based on their incomes, which some policy experts have recommended for years.
Here’s how it works now: If you’re struggling to afford your monthly student loan bills, federal income-driven repayment plans will cap them at a percentage of your income. On the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan, introduced by the U.S. Department of Education in December 2015, payments are no more than 10 percent of your income, and your loans are forgiven after 20 or 25 years. You’ll be taxed on the amount forgiven.
REPAYE is one of five income-driven plans. They each have small differences in their benefits and requirements, and they all involve a thorny application process. You must apply through your student loan servicer and recertify your income every year. That means if you suddenly lose your job — meaning you qualify for a $0 payment — you can’t get relief until you fill out a form and wait until your loan servicer processes it.
Trump said in an October speech in Columbus, Ohio, that he would replace the current maze of plans with a single program. The plan would limit student loan payments to 12.5 percent of income, slightly higher than REPAYE’s cap, and forgive the remaining balance after 15 years, five to 10 years sooner than the current options offer.
A simpler income-driven repayment program would be refreshing news for many borrowers. But those most at risk of default may need more help. Former students who attended community colleges or for-profit colleges, for instance, are less likely to complete their studies or see a boost in earnings, and they often can’t keep up with student loan payments, according to a report published in the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.
