What’s confusing you about your student loans?
Over the past year, Business Insider has heard from over 1,000 student-loan borrowers who described challenges, concerns, and confusion related to President Donald Trump’s student-loan repayment changes.
The changes, which included new repayment plans and borrowing caps, took effect July 1. The transition, however, has not been seamless — borrowers have faced incorrect bills, confusing servicer notices, and paperwork backlogs that have made it difficult to budget their lives.
Here are some of the key things student-loan borrowers have expressed confusion over in the new repayment environment.
The SAVE plan
President Donald Trump eliminated the Biden-era SAVE plan in March. It would have allowed for cheaper payments and a shorter timeline to debt relief. Beginning July 1, servicers started notifying SAVE borrowers of their 90-day timeframe to transition to a new plan. If they do not take action within that timeframe, they will be automatically placed on the standard, most expensive plan.
Many student-loan borrowers on SAVE have reported confusion with the process. Prior to July 1, the Department of Education notified borrowers that they would soon have to switch plans and encouraged them to do so as early as possible.
Borrowers said the notification process from the department and servicers has been confusing. For example, some borrowers said they switched plans before receiving their 90-day timeframe, as encouraged by the department, and didn’t have time to appropriately budget for their new, higher payments.
Other borrowers are still waiting to receive their notices. Servicers are notifying borrowers in waves and expect to send all notices out by the end of 2026, with the earliest deadline to transition off SAVE coming at the end of September. It’s unclear how quickly borrowers who did not take action will be placed in the standard plan, and there’s an ongoing lawsuit seeking to stop the involuntary transfer.
Payment glitches
Over the past few months, borrowers have reported erroneous notices and billing errors that have made it difficult to understand their current repayment status.
In June, the Education Department confirmed to Business Insider that borrowers who shared their federal tax information with Federal Student Aid received incorrect $50 payments. A month later, 6,000 of those borrowers received emails requiring them to reapply for an income-driven repayment plan.
More recently, borrowers reported receiving notices from their servicer indicating their loans were past due, though that wasn’t the case. The department said that the issue has been fixed and that affected borrowers would be notified.
Those glitches, and others, have sparked panic and confusion among borrowers. Some said they weren’t aware the glitches were errors until they read about them in the news or on social media, and that they had budgeted their lives based on the incorrect billing information they received.
New borrowing caps
Trump’s repayment overhaul included a new $100,000 lifetime borrowing cap for graduate programs, and a $200,000 cap for professional programs. It also placed new limits on the amount parents can borrow for their kids: a $20,000 annual cap and a $65,000 lifetime cap per student. Parents had previously been able to borrow the full cost of attendance.
In addition to the new caps, the Trump administration planned to implement a new definition of a professional degree, which would allow 11 programs to qualify for the higher borrowing limit and exclude many others, including advanced nursing. A court blocked the new definition from taking effect, and while the prior definition now remains in place, it could change as the litigation continues.
Borrowers said the uncertainty surrounding how much they can borrow is weighing on their future financial and educational planning. Some borrowers said they anticipate having to forgo their programs if they do not get sufficient federal funding. Parents also said they’re concerned about supporting their kids’ education under the new limits.
Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.
