Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
President Donald Trump's student-loan changes are here — and for many borrowers, the biggest change will be their monthly bill.On July 1, the Department of Education rolled out new repayment plans, stricter borrowing caps for graduate students and parents borrowing for their kids, and new limits that could reshape who qualifies for a popular loan forgiveness program for public servants.Millions of borrowers "will face massive sticker shock this summer and autumn as they are pushed to transition into other repayment plans," said Sara Partridge, associate director of higher education at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress.Cassandra Kormendy, a 39-year-old borrower, said her $530 payment is projected to surge to $1,200, and she doesn't know how she'll afford that increase."I'm scared to not pay them and what will happen," Kormendy said.Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a statement that the changes, which stem from Trump's "big beautiful" spending law, will address "longstanding challenges in higher education and federal student lending, including exorbitant tuition costs, unchecked borrowing, and a confusing maze of repayment options that too often leave borrowers with higher balances despite making payments."
