By: Katherine Hill
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – President Trump revealed a new proposal in his spending plan on Monday. The budget is set to eliminate subsidized loans for students and cut back on income-driven payment plans. In addition, federal work study financing will decrease and there is no intention on keeping the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
The plan will drastically hurt higher education and make borrowing money more expensive for those affected. Graduate loan forgiveness would be established after 30 years while undergraduates would wait 15 years.
This means Master’s degree students would pay significantly more.
Along with those changes, the amount of income-based repayment plans would be reduced from four to one. This means less borrowers will be permitted to pay back loans at a rate correlated with their income. Failing to comply will subject those involved to stricter standards.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which excuses former students in certain public service positions from paying loans after 10 years of on-time payments, would be erased alongside decreased funding for additional educational programs.
Trump’s plan must first have Congress’ approval before being passed.