• The Trump administration is changing how monthly student-loan payments are calculated for married people.
• Married borrowers could see higher monthly payments, even if they file taxes separately.
• It's a result of changes the Trump administration is making due to lawsuits against the SAVE plan.

Married student-loan borrowers could soon be faced with higher monthly payments.

President Donald Trump's Department of Education restored access to student-loan borrowers' income-driven repayment plans after the American Federation of Teachers sued the administration for taking down the online applications.

The plans, however, will look different this time around, Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron wrote in a recent legal filing in AFT's lawsuit. He said that by May 10, "married borrowers filing separate income tax returns or separated from their spouses will have spousal income counted for the purposes of calculating monthly payment amount under IDR plans."

Bergeron wrote that the change is a "required consequence" of a federal court's block on former President Joe Biden's SAVE plan. The plan was intended to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments and a shorter timeline to loan forgiveness.

This means that some student-loan borrowers could see their payments surge if their income-driven repayment plan payments are calculated based on spousal income since the combined income is higher than an individual borrower's income.

It's unclear how the Trump administration will carry out this change, or if it will face additional legal challenges. Allowing married borrowers to file separately is written into the law; the federal statute on income-based repayment states that "in the case of a married borrower who files a separate Federal income tax return, the Secretary shall calculate the amount of the borrower's income-based repayment under this section solely on the basis of the borrower's student loan debt and adjusted gross income."

While the SAVE plan remains blocked in court pending a final legal decision, student-loan borrowers can enroll in an income-based repayment plan, the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) plan, and the income-contingent repayment plan. Bergeron wrote that the Department of Education had to temporarily remove online access to those plans to revise the applications to comply with the court's ruling on SAVE. The court did not explicitly direct the department to block access to those plans.

Bergeron said there is not yet a timeline for when servicers will begin processing the backlog of the repayment plan applications. He added that borrowers seeking payment credit toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness can access the "buyback" program, which allows borrowers to buy back months that would complete their total 120 qualifying payments.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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• I didn't pay for my daughter's college tuition because I didn't want to risk my financial freedom.
• Instead, I paid for her car and housing while she was in college, helping her graduate.
• Now, she is paying back her loans, and I'm saving for retirement.

I am the youngest of four siblings and the only one who attended college. When I pursued my undergraduate degree, I knew the financial responsibility would fall entirely on me.

My mom didn't have much money, and although I qualified for federal and state grants, it only covered part of my college tuition. By my sophomore year, the grants ran out, and I had to take out student loans.

When I went to college in the 1990s, college was much cheaper than it is now. I went to Buffalo State in Buffalo, NY, and one semester was less than $5,000.

Years later, I decided to attend graduate school, and there were no grants, so I had to take out student loans for tens of thousands of dollars. This compounded my student debt since I was still paying for my undergraduate degree.

Now that I'm free of that debt, I had no intention of paying for my daughter's college.

Navigating the cost of college

I finished paying my student loans about five years before my daughter graduated from high school. I started thinking about how my daughter's college education would be funded.

I wanted to help her get the college education that she needed, but I also did not want to risk my financial future.

My daughter graduated from high school in 2015. She had already decided to enter nursing school and pursue her nursing degree.

When we talked about her college education, I told her I was willing to help her get the education she wanted, but I would not pay for it. I had plans for myself, including retirement, and I loved my financial freedom. I didn't want to risk losing all that.

Since I didn't want to pay directly out of pocket, we agreed that I would take out the student (parent) loans in my name so that she could attend college to pursue her nursing degree.

I provided for her needs during college

Although I was not going to pay for college, I did help her out directly in other ways. I provided her with a car.

I also paid for all her expenses to travel back home during school breaks or holidays, as well as some of her books on several occasions.

At the start of her junior year, with my support, she quit her part-time job near college, and every week, I would send her money that was the equivalent of her weekly paycheck from the previous six months.

Cost of college

She attended college from 2015 to 2019. Each school year was over $22,000 a year in tuition alone.

By the time she had finished her undergraduate degree and graduated in 2019, she (in my name) had racked up almost $110,000 in student loans between principal and interest.

She started her career as a nurse four months after graduating, and her student loan repayments began six months after graduation.

Before the first payment was due, the agreement was that she would send me her student loan payment electronically since the loan company would take the monthly payment from my bank account.

Less than a year after she graduated, I refinanced the student loans by 3% percentage points and shaved off almost 3 years of the payback period, saving her thousands of dollars of interest.

She has faithfully kept her part of the bargain as of today and only owes about $36,000 of the almost $110,000 student loan tab.

I didn't ruin my financial future and freedom

I did not (and do not) feel guilty or responsible for shouldering the financial burden of paying for her college degree. I knew I could help her in other ways that did not include making me solely responsible for her education.

Ultimately, it was her choice to go to college and the one who would benefit from earning a degree — not me.

Because I refused to pay for her college education but helped her differently, I accomplished two things. One, I helped her earn her degree; she is currently in the career of her choice.

Second, I didn't have to risk my financial freedom and future by paying for college, taking away money I could save for retirement.

• With tariffs, federal budget cuts, and student loan limbo, Americans are delaying financial decisions.
• 6 Americans told BI how economic uncertainty is shaping their family, jobs, budgets, and retirement.
• While the US is not in a recession, indicators are showing some signs of weakness.

Babies, homes, retirement, and business ventures — all major moves Americans have told BI they're putting on hold as the US reels from economic uncertainty.

Tariffs are set to raise prices on everything from groceries to cars, and sweeping cuts to federal spending have many concerned about their livelihoods. Federal student loan limbo is also leaving millions wondering how they will pay off their debt.

"I feel like I just got done building a life out here," said a Washington DC 28-year-old who resigned from her government job and may have to move due to finances. "I was actually trying to own a home."

Some are even worried about a recession. While the US isn't in one yet, a major indicator of consumer sentiment hit a three-year low in March, and consumer spending was weaker than expected last month. Meanwhile, a closely watched inflation metric has seen its highest jump in a year. Economists have said these conditions are making people less likely to make major purchases and take financial risks.

While some Americans also told BI they support Trump's recent cost-cutting measures and don't plan to make any adjustments to their jobs or savings, six shared stories about holding off on major milestones.

A millennial is weighing starting a family amid student loan uncertainty

Florence Thompson feels stuck. The 39-year-old wants to buy a home and have a baby, but she's not sure what her future monthly student-loan payments will look like. She said she hopes they'll stay in the low hundreds.

Thompson is enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. Trump is taking steps to limit eligibility for the program, which could bar some borrowers from future relief.

Thompson is also on the SAVE plan, created by President Joe Biden to give borrowers more affordable monthly payments. Since July, she and 8 million enrolled borrowers have been stuck in forbearance after SAVE was blocked in court. Thompson has not been able to make payments or earn PSLF credit while the lawsuit plays out. Now, Thompson isn't sure when she will have to add loan payments back into her budget — and how much those payments will be. The Trump administration's recent decision to dismantle the Department of Education has heightened this uncertainty, she said. It's complicating her plans to buy a home and start a family.

"I have the money to pursue IVF, I have the money to buy a home," Thompson said. "But it's like the sword hanging above your head where you don't know when your monthly costs are going to increase and by how much. It's just a real uncertainty, and I know people are in much more difficult positions than myself. It's just not fair, not right."

Until she knows what will happen with her student debt, Thompson is conflicted. "It's really causing me to have to save money rather than spend it on the things that I'd like to spend it on," she said.

A federal employee left a $100,000 salary on the table and is worried about the future of her career

Ashley Shannon submitted her resignation letter last month. The 28-year-old was an attorney in her second year at the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons. She said her job felt meaningful — her work helped combat mass incarceration disproportionately impacting Black and brown people.

But, as news flooded in about the firings of federal probationary workers, Shannon made the tough decision to leave her role.

"Higher up in the agency, they pretty much told us it's either you leave or you're going to likely get fired and pushed out," she said.

The career paths for Black women in private-sector law are more limited than in the federal workforce, and Shannon had been excited to build a career in the public interest. She had been making $100,000 a year and was building her life in Washington DC — hoping to buy her first home soon. Now, Shannon has been unemployed since March 5. If she can't find a job by the end of April, she will have to move back to Chicago to live with her parents.

"That is a very defeating feeling as a very new attorney," she said. "I would have to move back in with my family, find another job, and pretty much restart my entire life."

A Gen Zer moved back in with her parents to save up for an international move

Last fall, Bri O. moved back in with her parents. The 23-year-old works a finance job in Charlotte, North Carolina. She didn't picture spending her young adult years in her childhood home, but said it's her best option to save money.

Bri knew she wanted to live abroad at some point in her life — it's an opportunity to experience new cultures and she has her eyes set on Spain. However, she said Trump's return to the Oval Office has accelerated her timeline: She's now trying to save $50,000 by 2026 so that she can move out of the US, maybe permanently.

As a young, queer woman, Bri said she doesn't feel safe living under the Trump administration, especially if she someday chooses to get married or start a family. The government "enacting policies against us in the queer community is having an effect on our lives," she said.

She said she's sacrificing some of her independence by living with family right now, but it's worth it for her finances. Being at home is allowing her to put the money she would be spending on rent and other expenses into savings for her eventual move.

"I'd love to stay in the country where all my friends and my family are," she said, adding, "It's disheartening that I'm leaving because of fear."

A Gen Xer isn't sure she can retire early anymore

Margarita Sdoukos, 49, thought she was going to retire early. She was confident that she and her husband would have a strong enough nest egg to stop working in six years. Due to living below their means, savvy investments, and careful saving habits, the couple felt financially comfortable.

Now, Sdoukos isn't sure she will ever fully retire. The Illinois resident told BI that she and her husband have lost "tens of thousands" of dollars in the stock market since Trump took office in January, and they're shifting to safer investments for their 401(k), even if they are less lucrative. She cashed out her teacher's pension and placed it in an IRA due to "uncertainty in the government." She's concerned about potential changes to Social Security, and now expects to continue working for as long as possible.

"We don't even think about retirement right now," she said.

A business owner is anxious about her next step

Jessica Deseo, 40, has been in the design industry for nearly two decades. She's a California-based, first-generation immigrant and mother who is balancing her own LLC with her role as a 1099 employee for a fellow creative.

With economic policy changing quickly under Trump, Deseo is at a crossroads with her career: go solo with her business or balance her job and freelancing.

"I'm right in the middle of figuring that out, and it's really, really hard," she said.

Deseo said she wants to put energy and money into growing her own business, but it comes with sacrifices. She's worried that potential clients won't have the extra budget to hire her as a freelancer and said that going out completely on her own would be an even bigger financial risk. Right now, she's being cautious about spending and saving as much as she can.

"You see the economy around you and you're just like, 'Jesus, everyone is getting laid off,"' she said.

A baby boomer is putting off a move and saving some Social Security income

Kathy Heller, 67, hoped to move out of her studio apartment in Pennsylvania and buy a new house. However, due to recent changes in the stock market and her fears about the future of Social Security, she said that may no longer be possible.

"I've been wanting to move for the last couple of years, and I just can't now," Heller said. "Everything's changed."

Heller, who worked as a legal secretary, ate through some of her retirement savings while caring for her husband, who was ill for two decades. She works nearly full-time as a real estate agent to supplement her over $3,000 monthly Social Security survivor benefits. She said she's had to wait for four hours on the phone to contact a Social Security representative, and she said she's worried about what her finances may look like a few months from now, especially if Social Security is disrupted in any way.

"My plan is to save $1,000 a month out of my Social Security check, but I live alone," Heller said. "If you don't have savings or a monthly income, you're screwed now."

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• The Department of Education announced public hearings to revamp key student-debt relief programs.
• The department said it would examine limiting eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
• It also is looking at avenues to streamline existing income-driven repayment plans.

President Donald Trump's administration is taking the next step toward revamping key student-loan forgiveness programs.

On Thursday, the Department of Education announced it would be holding two public hearings to solicit feedback on its plans to refine the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and income-driven repayment plans.

This is part of the negotiated rulemaking process, a lengthy process federal agencies are required to undergo to change existing regulations. The department said that public hearings will be held in person on April 29 and virtually on May 1.

"Not only will this rulemaking serve as an opportunity to identify and cut unnecessary red tape, but it will allow key stakeholders to offer suggestions to streamline and improve federal student aid programs," Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron said in a statement.

A draft document the Department of Education posted on the Federal Register stated its intent to examine eligibility for PSLF, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years. It also said it would be looking to streamline the Pay As You Earn plan, which caps borrowers' monthly payments at 10% of their discretionary income; and the income-contingent repayment plan, which caps borrowers' monthly payments at 20% of their discretionary income.

Trump signed an executive order in early March aimed at limiting PSLF eligibility, and the announcement of public hearings appears to be the next step in carrying out that order. The department's draft document said that the public sessions would work on "refining definitions of a qualifying employer for the purposes of determining eligibility" for PSLF.

These moves come as the Trump administration attempts to dismantle the Department of Education altogether. On March 20, Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating the department, following the department's firing of over 1,300 workers just over a week prior.

While the Trump administration cannot eliminate a federal agency without Congress, it has taken steps to gut the agency and is beginning to examine ways to transfer some of the department's capabilities, like student loan management, to other agencies.

Some student-loan borrowers in public service previously told Business Insider that they were concerned about the fate of their relief under Trump's proposed changes.

"We've sacrificed a big part of our lives, in order to stay within this program, and you can't just change the rules as you go," a borrower enrolled in PSLF said.

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• The Education Department reopened online applications for income-driven repayment plans.
• The department said that the applications won't be processed immediately, and servicers will do so "in the near future."
• The SAVE plan remains blocked in court.

Student-loan borrowers can once again apply for affordable repayment plans online — but they won't be processed just yet.

After a month without online access to applications for income-driven repayment plans, the Department of Education announced on Wednesday that the applications are once again available for borrowers to access.

The available plans include the income-based repayment plan, the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) plan, and the income-contingent repayment plan, which borrowers can access using the online income-driven repayment application. The online loan consolidation application is also available again.

Guidance posted on Federal Student Aid's website said that while the application is now available, "loan servicers are still updating their systems in accordance with the court's actions. Servicers will begin processing applications in the near future."

One key income-driven repayment plan — the SAVE plan — is still unavailable. Created by former President Joe Biden, the SAVE plan was intended to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments with a shorter timeline for loan forgiveness. It was aimed at remedying challenges with the older repayment plans that Trump just reopened, including ballooning interest that often led to borrowers owing vastly more than they originally took out. The plan has been blocked since July, and it's still in court pending a final legal decision.

The Department of Education said on Wednesday that the other repayment applications were removed in an effort to comply with the federal court's ruling on SAVE, which ED said required them to take down the forms and revise them.

"Our team was able to relaunch this application within weeks, ensuring borrowers have access and the ability to access all legal repayment plans," Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron said in a statement.

While the latest ruling from the 8th Circuit on the SAVE plan suggested that debt relief under some income-driven repayment plans might be improper, the court did not explicitly direct the Education Department to block borrowers' access to those plans.

On March 19, the American Federation of Teachers — represented by the advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center — filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over its removal of online access to income-driven repayment applications. The lawsuit argued that the application removal impeded borrowers' progress in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers, including teachers.

The Student Borrower Protection Center said in a statement on Tuesday night that, during the first hearing for the case, Department of Justice lawyers stated their intent to reopen the applications on Wednesday.

It's unclear when servicers will begin processing new income-driven repayment plan applications. Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement: "Every day these applications go unprocessed deprives borrowers of critical time toward PSLF relief and financial stability."

There’s a good chance learning a new language is one of your New Year’s resolutions, unless you’re hoping Google Translate will be enough for your next international adventure. Either way, you’ll need a reliable method to guide you through speaking and understanding the foreign language of your choosing. Fortunately, we're no longer confined to flashcards and textbooks as you can learn using your phone from the comfort of your couch.

Many of the best language learning apps today offer a multi-tier approach, with AI-powered conversations, extensive vocab libraries and even podcasts you can listen to to help you master your target language. Whether you're just starting because you're just trying to understand what Bad Bunny means when he says "un verano en Nueva Yol," or you want to brush up on your Korean before that planned vacation, there’s a language learning app to suit your needs.

Best language learning apps for 2025

Others language learning apps we tested

Memrise

Memrise has a library of more than 200 languages to learn. From Spanish to isiXhosa, Memrise can teach you all the basics and dive into more regional differences. As a Spanish learner, I could choose to learn from Spain or Mexico and I enjoyed that Memrise didn’t just teach me a more generalized version of the language. While Memrise could be great for polyglots, its hefty $60 monthly fee was too steep and prevented it from gleaning one of our top slots.

Pimsleur

Dr. Pimsleur believed speaking and listening were key to learning a new language. This app allows you to take its audio lessons offline, even going as far as integrating into Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. As a commuter, I appreciated having a lesson or two stored away for my journey to the office. However, I wanted more ways to practice reading and writing. With other apps offering podcasts for listening along and other forms of teaching, Pimsleur didn’t offer enough to make our list.

Rosetta Stone

Gone are the large, yellow disc sets of yesteryear; now Rosetta Stone lives squarely in the digital age with its app. Using the same visual learning tools as the old-school Rosetta Stone, the app shows you pictures and terms to get you to understand what things mean. Users can repeat after voice recordings and match phrases to the images to learn slowly. Rosetta Stone could be great for beginners, but in order to get access to all 25 languages and a lifetime subscription, you’d have to dish out $400. There are cheaper apps on this list that provide comparable experiences.

HelloTalk

Similar to Discord, HelloTalk provides voice and chat rooms to talk to folks from different countries. Its users can learn regional terms and talk about cultural differences. With a paid subscription, you can practice with a tutor or their AI chatbot. If you’re looking to learn a new language outside of your inner circle, HelloTalk can be a great fit. I enjoyed connecting with others on the app, but, as always when meeting strangers online, beware — some users treat it like a dating app. Fortunately, there are apps on this list that offer a similar AI learning approach without that added concern.

How we test language learning apps

As an intermediate Spanish learner, I was looking for an app that best catered to my needs, but I know everyone learns differently. So for each app, I assessed based on several factors. Can beginners use this to gain confidence? Will advanced speakers feel challenged? Are there enough opportunities to test reading and writing skills? How many ways can you learn vocabulary words? For those who want to have more conversations, what opportunities did each app provide to speak in that language? Bonus points if an app helped you learn a bit of the culture surrounding that language.

• Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating the Department of Education.
• He also announced plans to transfer student loans to the Small Business Administration.
• Here's what student-loan borrowers should know about these changes.

Millions of student-loan borrowers are once again thrown in limbo following President Donald Trump's plans to dismantle the Department of Education.

One day after signing an executive order to begin the process, Trump announced that student loans would be transferred to the Small Business Administration.

Neither agency provided further detail on what that transfer would look like, including when it's set to happen. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Fox News on Friday that she would be working with SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler on a "strategic plan" for moving student-loan borrowers' accounts.

"We've talked also with Treasury, and how they can be interactive in that process," McMahon said.

The SBA is responsible for offering resources to small businesses and facilitating major loan programs for business owners, including ones for disaster relief and pandemic recovery.

When asked how these changes will impact student-loan borrowers, the Department of Education referred Business Insider to McMahon's recent interviews. A spokesperson said that there are currently "no changes for student-loan borrowers to navigate at this time."

These changes come as millions of borrowers on key repayment plans are waiting for answers. Those on the SAVE plan — which promised cheaper payments — are waiting for a final court decision on the plan's fate, and Trump also signed an executive order aimed at narrowing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years.

Here's what student-loan borrowers should know about Trump's changes to the Department of Education.

What are Trump's plans for the Department of Education?

Trump's end goal for the Department of Education is its elimination. His executive order to do so said that McMahon should take all steps to close the department "to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law" while ensuring services Americans rely on are "uninterrupted."

Before signing the executive order, Trump already made moves to reduce the department's capacity. His administration cut the department staff by nearly 50%, firing over 1,300 of its employees.

Jared Bass, senior vice president for education at the left-leaning think-tank Center for American Progress, told BI that these changes are "like going to a restaurant that's understaffed."

"Wait times are long, you may get the wrong order, the service is just bad," Bass said. "I think that's going to be the same thing that happens here. Linda McMahon sent home 50% of her staff during the lunch rush."

Can Trump legally make these changes?

Trump cannot shut down a federal agency or transfer student loans away from the Department of Education without Congress. The Higher Education Act of 1965 states that the education secretary "shall maintain responsibility" for federal student aid programs.

Additionally, shutting down a federal agency requires 60 Senate votes. McMahon has previously acknowledged that she would work with Congress to facilitate the shutdown of the Department of Education. Sen. Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate education committee, also said in a statement last week that he will be introducing legislation to help Trump accomplish his goal.

What will happen to my student-loan payments?

Student-loan borrowers with payments due should continue making their payments, and those who are on forbearance — either due to legal challenges to the SAVE plan or another reason — should not be facing changes to that, either.

However, some advocates and Democratic lawmakers have sounded the alarm about Trump's plans' impact on student-loan servicing.

Jessica Thompson, the senior vice president of The Institute of College Access & Success, said in a statement last week that Trump's plans "can only result in borrowers experiencing erratic and inconsistent management of their federal student loans. Errors will prove costly to borrowers and ultimately, to taxpayers."

Can the SBA really handle student loans?

SBA's Loeffler said in a statement last week that the agency "is prepared to work with Congress and the Administration to bring accountability back to America's student loan program."

"As the government's largest guarantor of business loans, the SBA stands ready to deploy its resources and expertise on behalf of America's taxpayers and students," Loeffler said.

The SBA announced, however, that it would be cutting its workforce by 43%. It's unclear how the agency will manage the trillion-dollar student-loan portfolio with a significant reduction to its staff.

Will there be lawsuits?

Yes. A group of advocacy groups, including the NAACP, the National Education Association, and AFSCME, are filing a lawsuit on Monday to stop Trump's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

"Donald Trump's own Secretary of Education has acknowledged they can't legally shut down the Department of Education without Congress," Aaron Ament, president of Student Defense — one of the groups representing the plaintiffs — said in a statement. "Yet that is, for all intents and purposes, exactly what they are doing. It's a brazen violation of the law that will upend the lives of countless students and families."

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• Trump said student loans are moving out of the Department of Education and into the Small Business Administration.
• He also said that HHS will be taking over "special needs" and nutrition programs.
• This comes one day after Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating the Department of Education.

Student loans are moving to the Small Business Administration, President Donald Trump said.

One day after signing an executive order to begin the process of eliminating the Department of Education, Trump said in an Oval Office appearance on Friday the SBA will take over the management of $1.7 trillion in federal student loans.

"We have a portfolio that's very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans, pretty complicated deal, and that's coming out of the Department of Education immediately, and it's going to be headed up by Kelly Loeffler, SBA, and they're all set for it," Trump said. "They're waiting for it. It would be serviced much better than it has in the past. It's been a mess."

Trump also said that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the head of the Health and Human Services Department, will be handling special needs and nutrition programs.

The Department of Education, SBA, and HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

It's unclear how the SBA will manage the federal student-loan portfolio. Trump's executive order said that Education Secretary Linda McMahon should take steps to close the department while "ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely."

Still, with over 40 million Americans holding student loans, it would be a significant undertaking, especially with those borrowers being on different repayment plans and relief schedules. Jared Bass, senior vice president for education at the left-leaning think-tank Center for American Progress, told BI that other agencies aren't equipped to manage the Department of Education's tasks.

The department "has people that are well versed in the oversight," Bass said, and "having a Secretary of Education focused on one particular thing within the Cabinet agency is helpful, not hurtful."

Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote in an opinion piece on Fox News on Friday that eliminating the Department of Education "will not happen tomorrow."

"But we can move in that direction immediately by revising guidance documents and grant competitions to advance the president's vision of returning education authority to state and local education leaders," she wrote.

The department had already cut 50% of its staff as part of its agency reorganization efforts. McMahon and Trump have maintained that programs like student loans and grants for low-income students will not be impacted, but advocates and some education experts have said that's likely not the case.

"You can't have programs without people, and if you are issuing risks and reducing staff by nearly 50%, that's going to impact service, that's going to impact delivery," Bass said.

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• Trump signed an executive order seeking to limit eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
• Some borrowers told BI they built their careers around the promise of relief after 10 years of payments.
• The Education Department said it's reviewing the order and will ensure PSLF doesn't go to "anti-American activists."

They shaped their lives around working in public service to get student-loan forgiveness. The program they're counting on is one of President Donald Trump's latest targets.

"I'm counting my lucky stars that there's still the possibility that this PSLF program will remain intact because I have dedicated my whole professional life to public service," Megan Flocken, a 41-year-old former public school teacher and current nonprofit worker, told Business Insider.

She's referring to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, created in 2007 to forgive student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. After Trump signed an executive order seeking to limit PSLF eligibility by barring employers from the program who do not align with the administration's political views, Flocken said it's "injecting another element of instability" into her life.

She's projected to see her nearly $160,000 balance wiped out through PSLF in July after making payments for nearly 10 years. But having been enrolled in former President Joe Biden's SAVE plan, which is currently blocked in court, Flocken has been on forbearance and has not been able to earn credit toward PSLF.

It's leaving her relief in limbo, and she said she's not sure when — or if — she'll see her balance wiped out. Over 2 million student-loan borrowers with qualifying employers are enrolled in PSLF, according to recent Education Department data. BI heard from dozens of borrowers who said they're concerned about the future of the program and disappointed that their years of public service might be under attack.

A Department of Education spokesperson told BI that "Trump's executive order will restore the PSLF program to its statutory basis and not allow PSLF to fund anti-American activists."

"The executive order is narrow in its purpose to ensure certain nonprofits do not inappropriately qualify for PSLF, but does not direct other changes to the program," the spokesperson said. "The Department is reviewing the executive order and will ensure the program is managed effectively for those it is intended to serve."

It's unclear how far Trump will go with making changes to PSLF. Still, it follows weeks of actions that have uprooted the public servants working for the federal government, including agency restructuring and thousands of worker terminations. Additionally, Trump signed an executive order to remove "woke" ideology from public classrooms, signaling that he wants to ensure the public sector aligns with his political views.

Flocken said the uncertainty regarding the future of relief through PSLF undercuts a "core principle" of the program.

"I love being a servant," Flocken said. "It's not for the money. It's for that sense of building a community and feeling, quite frankly, stable within that community. And so it just kind of cuts the rug out from underneath that sense of stability that's a core principle of public service."

'You can't change the rules as you go'

Caleb, 40, specifically sought out jobs in public service to ensure he could receive relief through PSLF. A father of four kids, Caleb — who requested his last name be withheld so he could speak freely about his financial situation — has a student-loan balance of just over $190,000, according to documents reviewed by BI.

He accrued most of his debt from pursuing a master's degree in physical therapy, and he said that he took on that debt knowing that he wanted to work for nonprofits and qualify for PSLF.

He has just 18 payments left until he's expected to earn relief, and as a nonprofit worker, he said he hopes the program isn't changed before then.

"We have a lot of things that could take change and reform, whether it's foreign policy or the border," Caleb said. "But as far as the student loan situation goes, I want to make sure the government understands that we're honoring and respecting these plans. We've sacrificed a big part of our lives, in order to stay within this program, and you can't just change the rules as you go."

Linda McMahon, Trump's new education secretary, said during her confirmation hearing that she plans to honor PSLF and that "if we want stronger or more programs for loan forgiveness, then I think Congress should pass those programs, and then we would implement it."

Charles Heacock, 52, said he agrees that there's room for reform across the government — but as a state government employee, he doesn't think that relief for public servants should be on the chopping block. He has a $60,000 balance on the line.

"I could go to a private company, a for-profit company, and probably make more money than doing what I do now, but I choose not to, because public service, for me, is what's important," Heacock said.

'I'm so close to the finish line'

Trump's executive order directed the heads of the Treasury and Education Departments to redefine what constitutes "public service" and ensure it aligns with the administration's views. The departments did not put forth a timeline for when they will develop new guidance, and the Federal Student Aid office said on March 10 that PSLF "is not changing today, and borrowers do not need to take any action."

GOP Rep. Tim Walberg, the chair of the House education committee, said in a statement that Republicans "have long had concerns about the open-ended nature of PSLF."

The executive order "is in line with House Republican's goal of delivering the reforms to PSLF that are sorely needed," Walberg said.

Lindsey Dailey, 36, doesn't quite see it that way. She works for the state government, and she said she has an estimated two payments left until she earns relief through PSLF.

Potential changes to the program are "really unsettling," Dailey said.

"I could understand wanting to make changes to it, maybe for people going forward who are taking out loans," Dailey said. "But for those of us that have been sold this, I don't think it's fair to now take it away."

Jeff Hughes, another state employee with an estimated three payments left on his $60,000 balance, said that whether he gets relief or not, he has dedicated his career to public service and doesn't intend to leave the field anytime soon. He just hopes that the administration will continue to fulfill the program's promise.

"I'm so close to the finish line," Hughes said. "I really hope that the program continues as is because we need some more good people out there doing good work."

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• Democratic lawmakers said they hope to work with Education Secretary Linda McMahon on student-loan servicer oversight.
• They pointed to new data on MOHELA, which the Education Department found had the worst performance metrics.
• McMahon previously signaled a willingness to review student-loan servicer performance.

President Donald Trump's new education secretary might find room for agreement with Democrats on a key issue: making sure student-loan servicers do their jobs.

On Monday night, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren led a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. James Clyburn, in sending a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon regarding oversight over the companies that manage millions of student-loan borrowers' federal loans.

"Despite our disagreements, we look forward to working with you where we can find common ground," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, first viewed by Business Insider. "One such area may be accountability for federal student loan servicers."

They specifically pointed to servicer MOHELA, which manages over 7 million borrowers' accounts. New data released by the Department of Education in January showed that MOHELA was the worst-performing servicer based on the three metrics the department measured: customer satisfaction, call wait times, and call abandon rates.

The department found that MOHELA took, on average, 2 minutes and 55 seconds to answer a borrower's call, about 12 times longer than Central Research, Inc., the newest federal servicer. It also found that MOHELA's average abandon rate, which is the percentage of borrowers who ask to speak to a representative but hang up before being connected, was 7.37%, far above Nelnet's 0.76% rate and Central Research's 1.33% rate.

Following McMahon's confirmation hearing, she wrote to Democratic lawmakers that she looks "forward to working with Department and FSA staff to review the performance of our current contractors with the goal of improving service delivery on behalf of students, their families, and taxpayers."

The lawmakers told McMahon that they are hoping to work with her on applying "corrective measures" to hold MOHELA and other federal servicers accountable for poor performance.

"If MOHELA does not clean up its act, ED should also consider terminating its contract with the servicer," the lawmakers said.

MOHELA was the first federal servicer to receive an enforcement action from former President Joe Biden's Education Department in 2023 found that MOHELA failed to send on-time billing statements to 2.5 million borrowers, leading the department to withhold over $7 million in pay from the servicer.

Biden later withheld pay from the remaining three federal servicers for failing to fulfill their contractual obligations and published an accountability framework to ensure servicers are working in the best interest of borrowers.

It's unclear how McMahon will handle servicer oversight going forward. After being confirmed as education secretary last week, she released a memo outlining the Department of Education's "final mission." It included strengthening parents' roles in their kids' educations, removing "divisive DEI programs" from public education, and ensuring postsecondary education programs are aligned with workforce needs.

She later affirmed during an interview with NewsNation that she is examining ways to move forward with Trump's goal to dismantle the Department of Education. While she acknowledged that shutting down an agency would require 60 votes in the Senate, she is looking at options to transfer the administration of student loans to a different federal agency.

"I think my job is to convince Congress that the steps that we are taking are in the best interest of the kids, and that they would vote to close the Department of Education if they feel confident that at the state level, that those kids are going to receive a better education," McMahon said.

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• Trump signed an executive order seeking to limit Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility.
• The Education Department said on Monday that the program "is not changing today."
• The order asked the department to ensure the definition of "public service" aligns with the administration's views.

President Donald Trump's Department of Education is assuring student-loan borrowers that changes to a key forgiveness program aren't here — yet.

After Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the Federal Student Aid office posted on X that borrowers enrolled in the program won't be facing any changes at this point.

"The U.S. Department of Education is reviewing the recent executive order regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program," FSA wrote. "The PSLF Program is not changing today, and borrowers do not need to take any action."

Trump's executive order said that organizations engaging in "activities that advance illegal immigration, terrorism, child abuse, discrimination, and public disruptions" would not be eligible for the program.

While it's unclear which specific organizations Trump is seeking to target that do not align with his administration's political views, the executive order directed the education and treasury secretaries to redefine what constitutes "public service" and ensure that participating PSLF employers align with the administration.

PSLF was created in 2007 to forgive student debt for government and nonprofit workers, like teachers and police officers, after 10 years of qualifying payments. Trump cannot make major changes to the program without Congress's approval. Some borrower advocates said that any attempt to change the program solely by executive order would result in legal challenges.

"Threatening to punish hardworking Americans for their employers' perceived political views is about as flagrant a violation of the First Amendment as you can imagine," Aaron Ament, the president of the borrower protection group Student Defense, said. "If the Trump Administration follows through on this threat, they can plan to see us in court."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, similarly said in a statement that the federation "won't stop fighting, in court and in Congress, until every single public service worker gets the help the law affords them."

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said during her confirmation hearing that she would honor PSLF and that "if we want stronger or more programs for loan forgiveness, then I think Congress should pass those programs, and then we would implement it."

This is Trump's latest blow to federal workers. Over the past weeks, his administration has worked with Elon Musk and the White House's DOGE office, aimed at reducing government waste, to slash the federal workforce. The administration has fired thousands of federal workers across agencies and cut billions of dollars in federal programs, including the Department of Education's research arm.

Some Republican lawmakers lauded Trump's executive order. Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House education committee, said in a statement that Republicans "have long had concerns about the open-ended nature of PSLF."

The executive order "is in line with House Republican's goal of delivering the reforms to PSLF that are sorely needed," Walberg said.

Are you enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected].

• Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
• Trump said the order would restrict employers engaging in "anti-American" activities from participating.
• Millions of government and nonprofit workers rely on PSLF for student-debt relief.

President Donald Trump's latest executive order took on a major student-loan forgiveness program in the administration's latest attack on workers in government and nonprofits.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for workers like teachers, healthcare workers and police officers after 10 years of qualifying payments.

The order's incendiary rhetoric said that organizations engaging in "activities that advance illegal immigration, terrorism, child abuse, discrimination, and public disruptions" would be barred from the loan forgiveness program.

"The PSLF Program also creates perverse incentives that can increase the cost of tuition, can load students in low-need majors with unsustainable debt, and may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of a non-profit designation and degrade our national interest," the order said.

It's unclear what organizations the Trump administration intends to accuse of these "anti-American" activities. This comes as the administration carries out mass layoffs of federal workers. The order directed Linda McMahon, Trump's new education secretary, to redefine what "public service" is to align with the administration's political views. Student-loan borrower advocates say they'll take the administration to court if they follow through on this order.

According to the latest Education Department data, over 2 million borrowers were enrolled in PSLF with eligible employers as of December 2024.

This isn't the first time Trump has targeted PSLF. During his first term, his Department of Education ran up a backlog of PSLF applications. He has also previously suggested eliminating the program altogether. Doing so would require an act of Congress, and there has yet to be sufficient support to eliminate the program.

To address the backlog of PSLF applications and paperwork issues with the program, former President Joe Biden's Education Department introduced a limited-time waiver to allow borrowers' past payments — including those previously deemed ineligible for PSLF — to count toward their forgiveness progress.

Biden also carried out targeted relief for PSLF borrowers under one-time account adjustments in an effort to bring payments up-to-date. In his final weeks in office, he announced $465 million in debt cancellation for 6,100 borrowers enrolled in PSLF.

Amid Trump's efforts to limit the program, McMahon said during her confirmation hearing that she would honor the program as Congress intended.

She added: "If we want stronger or more programs for loan forgiveness, then I think Congress should pass those programs, and then we would implement it."

Some advocacy groups criticized the executive order. Aaron Ament, president of borrower protection group Student Defense, said in a statement that PSLF was created by a "bipartisan act of Congress" and "Americans have worked hard and made life decisions under the assumption that the US keeps its word."

"Threatening to punish hardworking Americans for their employers' perceived political views is about as flagrant a violation of the First Amendment as you can imagine," Ament said. "If the Trump Administration follows through on this threat, they can plan to see us in court."

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