The Department of Education confirmed to Scripps News this week that some public servants are losing forgiveness credits because of coding errors that occurred during the Biden administration. While the path to forgiveness is now longer for some, monthly payments are also increasing for many others, adding to an already stressful financial burden.
Now, there is a new push in Washington to address the affordability of student loan payments.
College can be worthwhile, but it can also be expensive — especially for more than 40 million Americans still paying for it.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the overall average student loan payment was $434 a month earlier this year.
Payments for many have only gone up this year after President Donald Trump's Department of Education restructured student loan repayment plans in the aftermath of courts blocking former President Joe Biden's initiatives.
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Loan forgiveness has become more complicated, too. The Trump administration confirmed to Scripps News this week that coding errors were recently found and corrected involving Public Service Loan Forgiveness, meaning forgiveness for many now has a later date.
"This is ground zero of the affordability crisis for an entire generation of Americans," Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said.
There are signs in Washington pointing to a desire for at least a debate over reducing one area of student loan payments: interest rates, which currently sit at 6.52%.
"Our bill would eliminate student loan interest," Rep. Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, said.
Democrats have introduced bills in recent weeks to eliminate interest, while some Republicans have expressed interest in simply lowering the current rate.
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Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna — who is trying to force a vote this year — wrote:
"Americans aren't asking Washington to erase their debts. They're asking for a fighting chance to PAY them. I'm fighting to cap federal student loan interest at 2% and end the government's debt trap."
While the prospects of congressional action over student loan interest are still seen as a longshot with this year's election looming, the Trump administration has also eyed this area of potential relief.
The administration announced this summer that "federal student loan borrowers enrolled in auto pay will be eligible for a 1 percent interest rate reduction." Borrowers have until Sept. 30 to enroll.
