2026-03-27T23:39:35-0400 / CBS/美联社
美国教育部表示，超过700万参与拜登政府时代还款计划的学生贷款借款人将从周五开始收到通知，指示他们选择新的还款计划以偿还债务。
曾在联邦法院本月初推翻的SAVE计划中登记的借款人，自2024年7月起一直处于暂停还款状态，因为法院正在进行法律诉讼。从7月1日起，贷款服务机构将开始发出通知，给予借款人90天时间选择新的还款计划。
对大多数借款人而言，现有的还款计划意味着月还款额将增加。
教育部称该计划”非法”，并在周五的声明中表示，它基于”虚假的学生贷款减免承诺和人为压低的月还款额”。
“今天的指导意见将使所有参与已失效SAVE计划的借款人在未来一周内收到通知，一劳永逸地终结拜登政府非法的学生贷款救助计划，”教育部副部长尼古拉斯·肯特在一份声明中表示。”多年来，借款人一直陷入令人困惑的不确定性循环，但特朗普政府的政策很简单：如果你申请了贷款，就必须偿还。
当亚历克西斯·阿雷东多2024年从加州大学洛杉矶分校微生物学专业毕业时，他难以在研究或公共卫生领域找到全职工作。相反，他开始在南加州为非营利组织做兼职和自由职业工作。
作为第一代大学生，他背负了约4万美元的学生债务，并在毕业后注册了SAVE计划。他表示，现在他必须在每月支付更多款项（难以负担）和延长还款期限（将增加利息支出）之间做出选择。
“很难知道从哪里能筹集到这笔钱，”他告诉美联社。
SAVE计划是前民主党总统乔·拜登发起的多项减轻美国人学生债务负担的举措之一。
SAVE计划比其他还款计划提供更宽松的条款，将月供降至借款人可自由支配收入的5%，并对那些至少偿还10年且最初借款1.2万美元或更少的借款人提供减免。
在法律挑战期间，参与该计划的借款人无需付款。但自去年夏天法院裁决阻止SAVE计划实施后，债务余额开始累积利息，这意味着一些学生将发现自己的欠款增加。
学生借款人保护中心执行董事迈克·皮尔斯表示，随着对SAVE计划的法律挑战逐步推进，借款人感到非常不安。
“两党教育官员一次又一次承诺修复破碎的学生贷款系统，并将学生债务称为危机，”他告诉美联社。”然而今天，这些借款人却被告知是时候还款了，而且他们没有好的选择。
教育部称，从7月1日起，一个名为还款援助计划的新收入驱动型还款计划将成为借款人的选项。该计划根据借款人收入和受抚养人数确定月还款额，还款期限固定在10至25年之间。
去年，特朗普政府和国会对学生贷款还款选项进行了多项修改，这些修改将在未来两年内生效。例如，新的学生贷款将不再有因失业或经济困难而延期的选项。
“你正在谈论当前紧迫的可负担性危机，而你却取消了最实惠的计划选项，”青年无敌组织（Young Invincibles）政策与倡导经理亚历山大·伦德里根批评道。
本月早些时候，美国第八巡回上诉法院推翻了SAVE计划。教育部从周五开始向借款人发出的通知将指导他们在今年夏天尽快注册新计划并恢复还款。
贷款服务机构将分阶段联系借款人，每两周向新的一批人发送通知。最早参与SAVE计划的借款人将首先收到通知。
Education Department tells 7.5 million student loan borrowers in “illegal” SAVE plan to prepare for repayment
2026-03-27T23:39:35-0400 / CBS/AP
More than 7 million student loan borrowers who have been enrolled in a Biden-era repayment plan will receive notices beginning Friday with instructions to seek a new plan to repay their debt, the Education Department said.
Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, which was struck down by a federal court earlier this month, have been in forbearance since July 2024 as a legal battle played out in courts. Starting July 1, loan servicers will begin issuing notices giving borrowers 90 days to select a new repayment plan.
The available repayment plans will mean higher monthly payments for most of those borrowers.
The Education Department called the plan “illegal,” and said in a statement Friday it’s based on “the false promise of student loan forgiveness and artificially low monthly payments.”
“Today’s guidance, which every borrower enrolled in the defunct SAVE Plan will receive over the next week, puts the Biden Administration’s illegal student loan bailout agenda to rest once and for all,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a statement. “For years, borrowers have been caught in a confusing cycle of uncertainty, but the Trump Administration’s policy is simple: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back.
When Alexis Arredondo graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2024 with a degree in microbiology, he struggled to find full-time work in research or public health. Instead, he began working part-time and freelancing for nonprofits in Southern California.
A first-generation college student, he took on roughly $40,000 in student debt and enrolled in the SAVE plan upon graduation. Now, he said, he has to choose between paying more per month, which would be a struggle to afford, or a longer repayment period, which would increase how much he pays in interest.
“It’s very difficult knowing where I’m going to be to able to get this money from,” he told The Associated Press.
The SAVE plan was among several initiatives launched by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to reduce Americans’ student debt burden.
The SAVE plan provided more lenient terms than other repayment plans, reducing loan payments to as little as 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income and offering forgiveness for borrowers who made payments for at least 10 years and originally borrowed $12,000 or less.
While the court challenges played out, borrowers enrolled in the plan have not been required to make payments. But debt balances began accruing interest following a court ruling last summer that blocked implementation of the SAVE plan, meaning some students will see increases in the amount they owe.
Borrowers have felt whiplash as the challenges to the SAVE plan worked their way through court, said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center.
“Over and over again, education officials of both parties made promises about fixing the broken student loan system and called student debt a crisis,” he told The Associated Press. “And yet today, these same borrowers are being told it’s time to pay and you have no good options.”
Starting July 1, the Education Department said that a new income-driven repayment plan called the Repayment Assistance Plan will be an option for borrowers. The plan ties monthly payments based on a borrower’s income and number of dependents with fixed terms and timelines between 10 and 25 years to repay.
Last year, the Trump administration and Congress made several changes to student loan repayment options that will take effect over the next two years. For one, new student loans will no longer have the option of deferment because of unemployment or economic hardship.
“You’re talking about a pressing current affordability crisis, and you took away the most affordable plan option,” said Alexander Lundrigan, policy and advocacy manager at Young Invincibles, an advocacy group.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit struck down the SAVE plan. The Education Department’s notices to borrowers beginning Friday will direct them to enroll in a plan and resume making payments as soon as this summer.
Borrowers will be contacted by their loan servicers in stages, with a new group receiving word every two weeks. Those who had been enrolled in the SAVE plan the longest will be the first to receive notices.
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