Ingrid Jacques writes for USA Today about the lingering ill effects of the previous presidential administration.
I started out this year marking how glad I was that I wouldn’t have to keep writing about student loans, with former President Joe Biden leaving office.
Turns out I was wrong.
This is at least the second time the issue has come up since January. And it’s not because of President Donald Trump.
The turmoil the Biden administration created for borrowers through failed – and illegal – programs and promises has continued months after his administration ended.
The 7 million borrowers who signed up for Biden’s “Saving on a Valuable Education” (SAVE) plan learned Dec. 9 that they’ll have to find a Plan B, after the Education Department announced a settlement agreement that will end the program if the courts agree. Republican-led states had sued the Biden administration over the plan, arguing it was de facto massive student loan forgiveness under the guise of an income-driven repayment plan.
They were right, and it was likely just as illegal as Biden’s first $400 billion loan forgiveness play that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.
Good riddance to the last remnant of Biden’s meddling with loans. Expect the confusion to stick around, however. More on that shortly.
The SAVE plan, which the Biden administration stealthily put in place in 2023, promised borrowers extremely low monthly payments – many were told they wouldn’t have to pay anything – and fast-tracked loan forgiveness.
The plan was estimated to have cost at least $475 billion over 10 years – all without any approval from Congress. Other estimates were even higher.
“For four years, the Biden Administration sought to unlawfully shift student loan debt onto American taxpayers, many of whom either never took out a loan to finance their postsecondary education or never even went to college themselves, simply for a political win to prop up a failing Administration,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent in a statement. “The Trump Administration is righting this wrong and bringing an end to this deceptive scheme. The law is clear: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back.”
