- President-elect Donald Trump is unlikely to continue Biden's student-debt relief efforts.
- Trump has opposed broad student-debt relief and did not prioritize targeted relief during his first term.
- Two of Biden's debt relief plans remain blocked in court, keeping borrowers in limbo.
Student-loan relief is now a lot more uncertain for millions of federal borrowers. Two efforts, in particular, are in the hot seat.
President Joe Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan, intended to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments and a shorter timeline for relief, has been blocked in court since July following a lawsuit by GOP-led states.
In addition, the president's broader student-loan forgiveness plan, intended to benefit over 30 million borrowers, is also blocked in court pending a final decision.
Under Biden, the Education Department canceled billions of dollars in student loans for nearly 5 million borrowers. Though he hasn't been able to pass broad forgiveness, the relief was a result of targeted actions for borrowers on programs including Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.
President-elect Donald Trump is unlikely to continue both Biden's targeted debt relief efforts and the broader student-loan forgiveness initiatives that are blocked in court.
"He's throwing money out the window," Trump previously said of Biden's debt relief efforts, also calling broad relief "vile" and illegal.
When Business Insider asked Trump's campaign if the president-elect would oppose student-loan forgiveness, Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, said in a statement: "The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver."
The campaign did not elaborate on what Trump would do for student-loan borrowers. However, Americans can look back at Trump's first term in the White House to gauge the actions he might take on student debt. His Education Department ran up a backlog in processing applications for PSLF and borrower defense to repayment applications, which allow relief for those who were defrauded by the schools they attended.
Trump has also suggested getting rid of the Education Department altogether. Some advocates have vowed to fight for borrower protections under Trump's second term — Mike Pierce, executive director of the advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement after Trump won the election that Trump's policies left "millions drowning in student debt."
"The threat posed by these plans is real and will imperil the financial stability of millions of working families," Pierce said. "Making the basics of American life more expensive remains bad policy and bad politics."
Republican lawmakers in Congress also oppose student-loan forgiveness. If they secure the majority in both the House and Senate, legislation to rescind Biden's debt relief efforts has a chance of being signed into law. For now, millions of borrowers remain on forbearance as they wait for the courts to decide what will come of Biden's broader debt relief efforts, leaving their timeline for repayment in limbo.
How do you feel about the future of your student loans under President-elect Donald Trump? Share your story with this reporter at [email protected].