What Trump winning the election could mean for student loan forgiveness

Now that former President Donald Trump has won his reelection campaign, there are many looming questions about how his next term will affect policies implemented during President Joe Biden’s administration.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on the goal of curbing student debt. And while many efforts remain tied up in court, more than 5 million borrowers have received student loan forgiveness in the last four years.

In that time, Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s efforts, and some in the GOP have called the efforts “handouts.” To that end, people with student loan debt and hopes for future relief say they are concerned about what a new Trump term will mean.

Here’s what we know so far.

The Biden-Harris administration implemented a historic amount of student debt relief, even while facing hefty challenges from Republicans.

According to CNN, the multiple rounds of forgiveness canceled more than $175 billion in debt, aiding almost 5 million people since Biden took office. Those measures forgave about 11% of outstanding federal student loan debt.

The administration also made qualifying for debt relief easier through programs like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness initiative, which benefited more than a million borrowers who worked in public service and paid loans for 10 years. In contrast, when Trump was president, he repeatedly proposed ending the program.

The Biden administration’s hope was to see the next president continue the forgiveness efforts and expand initiatives to prevent students from incurring hefty debts.

“We need to make sure that we run the student loan programs in a way that protects students from being left with unaffordable debts,” Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal told Business Insider ahead of Election Day. “But we also need to invest in making those programs affordable on the front end and then making sure that those programs reliably lead to graduation and a job.”

Harris said in interviews that she hoped to keep fighting for student debt relief, but she didn’t speak about her plans at length or in detail.

During the candidates’ September debate, Trump called the Biden administration’s plan for widespread student debt relief a “total catastrophe” and said it was “unfair” to people who did repay their loans.

It’s unlikely. Based on his time as president and his public sentiments about student loan forgiveness, experts predict the concept of mass student loan forgiveness is likely dead with Trump poised for the presidency.

The Supreme Court shut down Biden’s attempt for widespread forgiveness in a 6-3 ruling. Other components of the president’s plan are still being held up in court, and it’s unlikely they will make it out of the courtroom before Biden leaves the White House.

It depends on the program.

As noted by Forbes, the Biden administration relied heavily on the regulatory process to expand relief under existing student loan forgiveness and repayment programs, helping more people qualify for them. Through this method, the office avoided drawn-out battles in Congress.

But a Trump administration could repeal those expansions under the same regulatory process. Programs like the SAVE plan, which sharply decreased borrowers’ monthly payments, could be on the chopping block along with other income-driven repayment plans, Forbes said. Other regulatory changes, including to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, could also be coming.

Still, other initiatives could be tougher for a Trump administration to get rid of since they were created by Congress and require a new congressional act to change or eliminate them.

To that end, initiatives including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Income Based Repayment, and Total and Permanent Disability Discharge programs cannot just be cut by the White House. But just as the Biden administration expanded who could access the programs, a Trump-led Education Department could shrink who is able to qualify, implementing new restrictions.

It’s impossible to say for sure. But experts say recent legislation could help provide some clues.

In January, Republican lawmakers filed legislation that would preserve an income-driven repayment plan, but remove the loan forgiveness component.