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Student Loan Shake-Up Hits July 1: SAVE Plan Officially Ends, New Repayment Options and Limits Take Effect

International Business Times

The overhaul stems from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last year, which the Trump administration has framed as an effort to streamline a federal student loan system that, until now, offered borrowers seven different repayment plans to choose from.

Parent PLUS borrowers are among those facing the steepest changes. Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, said her organization has been fielding a steady stream of distress from affected families.

“It’s heartbreaking … we’re getting emails from Parent Plus borrowers almost every day,” Mayotte said.

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There are two buckets of changes. There are changes that effect loan limits, and then there are a bucket of changes that affect repayment plans.
Federal student loan borrowers have repayment plans they can get on that are based on their income and plans based on their loan balance and term.
Even for borrowing loans going forward, we have a few buckets here as well. Parent borrowers used to be able to borrow up to the Cost of Attendance minus other aid. Going forward, parents can only borrow up to $20k per student per year, and a maximum of $65k per student.

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One group hit hardest is parent PLUS borrowers, says Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

New Parent PLUS loans for parents of dependent students from July 1 must be repaid under the new tiered standard plan, without options for an income-driven plan.
If existing borrowers didn’t consolidate in time, they’re left with far fewer options.
“It’s heartbreaking … we’re getting emails from Parent Plus borrowers almost every day, saying, ‘I borrowed this much, my income is this much, I was anticipating being able to use an income-driven plan,'” she says. “And now, it’s too late.”
The OBBBA also put new caps on parent PLUS loans: $20,000 per year and a $65,000 total cap per dependent.

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Under the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” the RAP is the only income-driven plan available to college students who borrow federal student loans after July 1.
Monthly payments will be calculated based on 1% to 10% of their income, depending on their earnings, and borrowers can subtract $50 per dependent child per month. (Borrowers can estimate their specific monthly payment using this calculator from The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. Borrowers will be able to view the RAP plan on the Federal Student Aid’s Loan Simulator on July 1.)

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“I fully expect default rates to shoot up over the next 10 years for Parent PLUS borrowers unless Congress goes back and fixes that and gives them lower payment options again, or makes the credit criteria for them similar to private,” Mayotte says.

Roughly 600,000 parents take out PLUS loans each year, generally accounting for less than 10% of student loan borrowers.

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