Reactions to Trump administration resuming student loan payments
- La Voz Latina
- 15 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By: Michelle Calderon 🇸🇻
On April 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced starting on May 5, 2025, it’s set to resume payments on defaulted student loans after a nearly five-year pause. This order will affect over 5 million borrowers who have not made payments toward their loans in over a year.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald J. Trump made this decision to avoid the cost of these loans falling on American taxpayers, especially those who never took out student loans or paid their loans on time.
“Fewer than four out of 10 borrowers are in repayment. This is unsustainable, unfair and a huge liability for American taxpayers,” Leavitt said.
This decision is likely to affect millions of Americans, as many are struggling with a higher cost of living and worsening job security.
According to a LendEDU survey, 53% of American respondents are living paycheck to paycheck and over 40.1% are unable to cover a $1,000 emergency.
Attending university is a big dream for many, and they’re often willing to pursue various means to finance it, but for others it can also become a burden.
Michael Long, a Pennsylvania high school teacher and Penn State University alumnus, said he fell in love with university life at a young age. He said after attending a college football game with his uncle, he knew that university would be a great place for him.
“I was a Penn State football fan, and I wanted to experience that for myself,” Long stated.
Long said since his high school is located in a rural part of Pennsylvania, he understands instead of going to college, many of his students will join the workforce right after graduation. He said the adults at his school teach their students to weigh all their options including trade school.
But, many adults in other schools tell students a degree is the key to a successful future, although it comes at a price for some.
Paige Langley, 24, a recent Oregon State University alumna, said while planning out her next steps after high school her school strongly recommended college to all of their students.
“College was definitely pushed onto us... They wouldn’t talk about career paths that you could enter without going to a four year university,” Langley said.
Langley said she graduated with thousands of dollars in debt, currently working three jobs to afford her monthly payments.
“Working three jobs is very difficult. It's not for everyone. I feel that working three jobs right now is what I felt I need to do because the requirement on the private student loans is so high for a minimum payment. I very much pride myself on not missing my payments and not being late on them,” Langley said.
Langley is not alone. According to a CNBC article, 8.9 million Americans work multiple jobs to afford their expenses, including their debt repayments.
As college tuition increases, student loans become even more expensive. According to a JP Morgan article, rates for the 2024-2025 term increased from 5.5% to 6.53%.
Madina Malik, 27, a dental student at Columbia University, believes the best way to deal with the student loan crisis is to reduce interest rates.
Malik said even though she is still in school, her interest rates on her loans accrue every year, causing her balance to be a lot higher than what she originally borrowed.
“It’s these interest rates that get you,” she said.
While the cost of tuition and university fees increases, the demand for a university degree remains high. According to a CNN article, colleges attract upper class families, and if they were to cut back on costs, they wouldn’t attract these kinds of families.
Long said in order to tackle the cost of growing tuition, he has invested in savings accounts for his two children.
“If they decide to go to college, we have set up 529 accounts to help with the cost,” Long said.
The cost of medical and dental schools has also increased significantly over the last couple of years, forcing many students to rely on loans.
Malik said most of her peers are also in debt because many don’t have parents who are able to help with their high tuition and fees.
According to the Department of Education, it plans to email borrowers in default to help them make payment arrangements. Here, they can enroll in an income driven payment plan or sign up for loan rehabilitation. If borrowers continue to miss their payments, they could have their wages garnished. Unpaid loans may also be sent to collections.
In order to avoid these consequences, many borrowers are cutting back on their spending and adjusting their living situations.
According to a study conducted by the Education Data Initiative, on student loan borrowers, many student debt holders are putting their dreams and financial goals on hold in order to pay off their loans as soon as possible.
The study found that 47% of respondents are delaying homeownership and 36% live with their families to save money and pay off their debt as quickly as they can.
Malik said that as soon as she starts working her priority will be paying off her loans.
“For the first 5-10 years of my career, I'll be working as an associate in a practice and begin paying down my debt before I can consider opening my own practice,” Malik said. “Opening a dental practice is very expensive and it's just not feasible directly out of school with half a million in student loans."
Although approximately 31% of Americans oppose student loan cancellation, many are in favor of some type of relief.
Many borrowers want Americans to understand they put themselves into so much debt because they aspire to become professionals who can be of service to others.
Long said the country needs to invest in the future of its citizens, and that includes making education more accessible and affordable.