Republicans are planning big changes to federal student loans : NPR
Text of the bill: 4.29_reconciliation_bill_summary_final.pdf
For new borrowers taking out federal student loans after July 1, 2026, gone will be the Biden administration's generous SAVE Plan, as well as a host of previous repayment plans, including the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plans.
In their place will be two options: 1) a "Standard Repayment Plan" with fixed monthly payments across a range of 10 to 25 years and 2) a "Repayment Assistance Plan" that bases monthly payments on a borrower's total adjusted gross income. The plan also waives unpaid interest that isn't covered by the monthly payment.
The maximum term of this new income-based repayment plan will take some getting-used-to for borrowers: While previous plans offered forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, the Repayment Assistance Plan comes with a maximum repayment term of 360 payments — or 30 years.
if a student wants to attend a program with an unusually high cost relative to other schools nationwide, federal loans might not cover the full bill.
There would also be new borrowing caps, or "aggregate limits," for undergraduates ($50,000), graduate students ($100,000) and professional programs ($150,000).
