Donald Trump‘s second spell as the President of the United States could spell disaster for Americans looking to have their student loans forgiven, as the Republican aims to find ways of generating cash for the economy.
Tuition fees have spiked 37% since 2012 and in wake of that, Joe Biden and the Democrats tried to reform the loan system so that it’s not as harsh on borrowers in the moment and when they graduate.
His measures saw a total of $175 billion written off for five million people and he had plans to forgive a total of 25 million Americans through the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) program.
Further plans were blocked by the Supreme Court, limiting what the Biden Administration could do to help and now it seems that when he leaves the Oval Office on Monday, January 20 it will be the end of forgiveness efforts.
What will Trump do to student loan forgiveness?
At best, Trump hasn’t directly spoken about student debt relief throughout his campaigning, his past actions offer a worrying insight to anyone who saw Biden‘s approaches as a way to keep their heads above water.
The 78-year-old described Biden’s policies as a “total catastrophe” and previously tried to repeal the Public Service Loan Forgiveness scheme. He could also target other debt-relief programs, which forgave over $100 billion.
“The Trump Administration has indicated that they’re opposed to broad forgiveness,” Bridget Haile, student loan expert, said as per bankrate.com. “And the SAVE plan.
“So I think we can reasonably expect those efforts to be discontinued.”
Experts predict Trump will scoop all of the income-driven repayment options into one super income-driven repayment option that excludes forgiveness, but he could also run into the same legislative issues as Biden did.
The President-elect is also poised to disband the Department of Education, devolving it to a state matter. The DOE supplied funding for federal student loans, as well as funding towards schools. However, it’s unlikely Trump will be able to get his wish through Congress.