As I write this Thursday morning, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act is about to pass the House in basically the same form that it passed the Senate, and it'll probably get signed shortly after. What does this mean for borrowers? Here's a quick summary in case you're as exhausted as I am from all this mess: If you're on Old IBR: you stay on it If you're on New IBR: you stay on it If you're on PAYE: you'll get transitioned out of PAYE onto Old IBR at some point between mid 2026 and 2028 If...
10 days ago • 3 min read
The Senate Parliamentarian just made a big ruling a few hours ago that could be very good for many student loan borrowers. Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate Parliamentarian, gets to advise which provisions of budget reconciliation bills can stay and pass with a simple majority, and which provisions could only be passed if the Senate has 60 votes to do it. From what we can tell so far, she's made 2 key rulings today affecting student loan borrowers: Current borrowers cannot be forced to use the...
17 days ago • 4 min read
You might know that Congress is trying to pass a massive multi trillion dollar bill called the "Big Beautiful Bill Act" (BBBA). The House has already put forward their proposal, and it was really negative for student loan borrowers. I was expecting the Senate version to be significantly more moderate, and then they would hash out their differences in committee. But unfortunately, the Senate version of student loan reform came out this week, and it's even more costly to borrowers than the...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
All eyes are still on the Senate for student loan borrowers, and the main development this week is that there's growing challenges brewing against the GOP House bill, particularly among anti-deficit Senators. Sen. Johnson of Wisconsin says he has allies who are ready to hold up the bill to get vastly larger spending cuts as well as more deficit reduction. But other senators are voicing concerns about cuts to Medicaid. With these conflicting concerns, it's clear that the Senate will come out...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The Big Beautiful Bill Act just passed the House by a margin of 1 vote. It still needs to pass the Senate, and members there might demand large changes to a variety of the provisions. If this bill were to pass though, it would be the most wide ranging student loan legislation since the creation of IBR and PSLF in the late 2000s. Here's a quick reminder of all the things it would do: Force existing borrowers to choose between the old IBR plan and the new GOP "RAP" plan Limit borrowing to just...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I built what I think is the first "RAP" (Repayment Assistance Plan) calculator anywhere in the world. The RAP Plan is the name for the new proposed GOP Income Driven Repayment plan the House is trying to pass. I'm sharing this calculator exclusively to our SLP Insiders members. If the House GOP bill were to pass, in theory, you'd have the choice between this new RAP plan and the "Old IBR" plan. This "RAP Plan" is super far away from being reality. There's like 18 steps that would...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Early this week, the House GOP Education Committee released their proposed text that would completely overhaul student loans from the ground up. This is the first Republican student loan proposal I've ever seen that does NOT respect contractual promises made in the promissory notes when borrowers took out their loans. I want to call out that it's a proposed bill, meaning it's far from becoming law (it has to pass the Senate first, which will likely issue a first draft that's more moderate...
2 months ago • 4 min read
SLP Insiders get 2 bonuses this week! You'll see at the bottom. But first let's talk about the scary week we just had for student loans. Hopefully you missed the whole thing because the issue I was deeply concerned about is resolved now. Last weekend, the Acting Undersecretary of Ed put out a response to the American Federation of Teachers lawsuit that's trying to force the Dept of Ed to process IBR applications. I noticed a random sentence in the government's reply that basically said,...
3 months ago • 2 min read
We finally have a little bit of clarity on what's going on with the giant dumpster fire that is IDR recertification. Here's our long form answer, but the short form answer is that it depends on if recertification date was on or before March 17, 2025, or after. It also depends on whether or not you were on the SAVE forbearance or another IDR plan. If you're on SAVE forbearance If you're on SAVE forbearance, they pushed everyone's recertification dates back a year. That can't be trusted though,...
3 months ago • 2 min read