What a Trump or Harris win could mean for student loans

Student loan forgiveness is in legal limbo as aspects of the Biden administration’s broader student loan forgiveness have been stifled by numerous lawsuits. While the judiciary wields significant power over the future of student loan debt forgiveness, voters will soon have influence at the ballot box: Student loan forgiveness could be handled very differently depending on who the country elects as its next president.

There is still considerable uncertainty about the future path of a Republican or a Democratic government. Neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump have laid out clear policy plans regarding their stance on student loans. But experts say a lot can be gleaned from each candidate’s actions over the past eight years.

Harris has praised the Biden administration’s record on student loan forgiveness and promised on her campaign website to work on the “unreasonable burden of student loan debt.” Despite several barriers to student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration was able to provide more than $175 billion in student loan forgiveness to nearly 5 million Americans, according to a press release from the Department of Education on Thursday. The Harris campaign declined to comment further on its plans.

Read more: Biden can push for student loan forgiveness. What happens next

Former President Trump did not post information about student loans on his campaign website, and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. His comments about Biden’s plans and some of his actions during his presidency suggest that student loan forgiveness could be rolled back if he wins a second term.

Here’s what a Harris or Trump presidency could mean for student loan forgiveness.

What Kamala Harris said about student loans

On Thursday, Harris released a statement saying she was “proud” of the billions of dollars in student loan debt relief granted over the past four years, the largest forgiveness of any government. “I will continue our work to reduce costs, make higher education more affordable and reduce student debt burdens. “I am committed to doing what is necessary to build an economy that works for every American,” Harris said.

Read more: Student loan payments will resume this fall. Here’s what you can do if you can’t pay

Harris also recently announced a proposal to make health care more affordable and accessible for Americans, including a plan to recruit 10,000 health care workers through incentives such as student loan repayment programs. (The Harris campaign did not respond to questions about the details of this plan.)

Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, believes a Harris administration would fight to keep the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, which is partially paused due to a federal court injunction, in court . And she believes Harris will continue to work on the broader student loan debt relief that Biden has promised. “It is so easy to forget that the Biden-Harris Administration is still working on its Plan B student loan debt relief proposal, implemented under the Higher Education Act, and is currently going through all of the administrative procedures required under the Higher Education Act,” said Canchola Bañez. “I would like to emphasize that the fight for debt relief is ongoing and proposals are currently in the works.”

What Donald Trump said about student loans

Trump has previously supported the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Biden’s broader relief, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. “The U.S. Supreme Court has won tremendous victories for the American people – stopping Joe Biden’s unconstitutional student loan stunt, restoring fairness to the college admissions process, and establishing the strongest protections for First Amendment rights in a generation,” it said it in the Trump campaign’s Supreme Court decision in a July 2023 press release. “One thing is clear: These victories were only made possible by President Trump’s compelling nomination of three distinguished and courageous jurists to the Supreme Court.”

At a June rally in Wisconsin, Trump called Biden’s broader loan forgiveness plan “abhorrent,” and ongoing lawsuits seeking to stop Biden’s student debt relief programs have all been brought by Republican-led states.

Read more: Why Higher Ed is afraid of a second Trump term

Congress enacted a student loan payment pause during the pandemic under the Trump administration, which has been extended at least once. However, the Trump administration has created several barriers to student loan debt forgiveness. Then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rewrote the Borrower Defense for Repayment, which would forgive federal student loans if a school misled a student or committed “other misconduct that violates certain state laws.” This revision allowed borrowers to have only three cents forgiven of every dollar they spent on their higher education, even though their college or university had committed illegal activities. (President Joe Biden reversed this policy in 2021.)

Under the Trump Administration, 99% of applicants were denied Public Service Loan Forgivement (PSLF). Tens of thousands of borrowers did not receive debt relief even though they were already eligible for relief. According to NBC News, some Massachusetts borrowers who were in the process of applying for student loan forgiveness had their tax refunds wrongfully seized.

Trump has said he has “nothing to do with Project 2025,” but the 900-page text was presented as a blueprint for the next Republican president and includes measures such as closing the Department of Education, denying credit access to non-citizens, etc those who are not permanent residents, review of Biden’s changes to income-driven repayment plans that provide borrowers with more affordable student loan repayment programs, and more.

“Under the Trump administration, I think borrowers are particularly vulnerable,” says Canchola Bañez. “It is very unlikely that the Trump administration will even want to continue defending these programs in court, and I think it will move forward to destroy the systems and programs that the Biden-Harris administration has worked so hard to improve. to abolish.” ”