Millions of student loan borrowers whose payments are paused may soon have to start paying, under a Trump administration proposed settlement announced this week. Experts say the timeline could be short, and borrowers need to start planning.
The agreement centers on borrowers who signed up for the Biden administration-era Saving on a Valuable Education plan and remain in the SAVE forbearance. As of July, according to the U.S. Department of Education, that group included more than 7.6 million borrowers.
Trump officials have not yet specified when SAVE borrowers will be forced to leave the payment pause, and the Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.
But the Tuesday press release notes that SAVE enrollees would have “a limited time to select a new, legal repayment plan.”
“We don’t know exactly how long this is going to take, but borrowers should understand that they will likely have to make the transition from SAVE to a different repayment plan within months,” said Nancy Nierman, assistant director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York City.
