Jessica Ochoa and her husband had hoped to have another child. But with Ochoa’s monthly student loan payment expected to balloon to $1,500 in the fall, they are reconsidering when — or whether — they can afford to grow their family.
“We couldn’t have a mortgage, daycare and student loans,” said Ochoa, a 32-year-old speech-language pathologist in Southern California. “I don’t know how people do that.”
Ochoa enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan in 2023 after borrowing about $152,000 to earn her master’s degree. She made several monthly payments of $567 until she went on maternity leave the following April. The Department of Education under the Biden administration paused SAVE borrowers’ payments a few months later after a federal appeals court temporarily halted the plan.
Like other SAVE borrowers, Ochoa must now contend with the Trump administration’s elimination of the plan after years of legal challenges. Earlier this month, she received a notice from her loan servicer giving her 90 days to choose a new repayment plan, which would nearly triple the tab she thought she would have.
Jessica Ochoa and her husband are debating whether to have a second child since her student loan payment could soon soar to $1,500 a month. Courtesy Jessica Ochoa
