In his first 100 days, President Donald Trump has made various changes to the federal student loan system and more could be on t🎉he way.

When President Donald Trump was elected in November, borrowers braced for a reversal in student loan policy. Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, had been 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:working to forgive certain types of student loans, and Trump was clear about being against tho💧se efforts.

While experts expected shifts in how student loans are handled, the administration took actions in the early days of Trump's second term that surprised some borrowers and analysts.

Efforts to Eliminate The Department of Education Have Moved Stu𒈔dent Loans

In late March, Trump ordered the Department of Education to be wound down as much as possible. Although many legal analysts say the department cannot be completely eliminated without an act of Congress, Trump's administration has pared back the department's workforce and funding.

Experts said the reduced workforce may 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:make it harder to administer student loan programs and help ౠborrowers with their loan and financial aid questions.

As part of the administration's efforts to dismantle the DOE (and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:potentially p𒅌rivatize student loans), Trump said that the Small Business Administration would 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:handle the $1⛎.6 trillion in student loa🌊n debt.

Advocates and student loan experts said 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:this move would disrupt customer sཧervice and cause confusion, lik🎉ely leading to more defaulted student loans.

Income-Driven Repayment Plans Have Gone Through Se🐽veral Changes

Legal challenges to a repayment plan introduced under Biden have had cascading effects on all income-driven repayment plans in Trump's first 100 days.

Former President Biden's administration ended before the cases that entangled the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Saving for a Valuable🐼 Education (SAVEꩵ) plan were resolved. Under Trump, a U.S. appeals court 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:upheld a block on SAVE. However, about 7.84 million people are still enrolled in the plan and remain in forbearance, awaiting further guidance on how to proceed.

Additionally, parts of the most recent SAVE plan ruling questioned parts of other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. In response, the administration 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:closed all IDR applications. A month later, the department 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:reopened applications following a lawsuit filed by advocates. The advocates claimed that the closure harmed borrowers by limiting the more affordable repayment options and blocking them from 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:recertifying their loans.

Last week, the DOE announced ꦑ澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:itꦕ is simplifying the IDR enrollment process and eliminating the recertification process. More d♉etails about the new IDR process will be announced this week.

Defaulted Student Loan Collections Will Restܫart Soon

The DOE announced last week that on May 5, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:it will restart student loan collectio﷽ns for defaulted borrowers.

This is important because required student loan payments were paused throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and restarted in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:October 2024. However, many borrowers have still not resumed payment. Currently, about 5 million borrowers have defaulted on their loans, and 4 million are delinquent, according to the Department of Education.

Student loan borrowers who have not made a payment in mo🌺re than a year will soon receive communication asking for a payment, helping them enroll in🐎 an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, or signing them up for loan rehabilitation.

Later in the summer, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:defaulted borrowers may have part of their wages involuntarily garnished if they can not complete one of those required actions.