In response, Republicans have introduced the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to require just that. Recent analyses indicate this may result in significantly increased monthly payments for a majority of federal student loan borrowers. U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, is the poster child for this extreme agenda. Its goal of saving $300 billion from the federal budget has released a wave of concern over its affordability for borrowers.
The new repayment plan, named the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), has the potential to significantly increase borrowers’ monthly payments. This new direction is a radical departure from current proposals. As an example, a borrower with an annual income of about $60,000 would have a monthly payment of $250 under the RAP plan. The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plan would require a much steeper payment of $304. This means that even borrowers making $100,000 a year will pay more under RAP. Unlike the prior SAVE plan, this one gave them lower monthly payments.
The long-term implications of this proposed legislation go well beyond a few dollars. According to analysis by the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), for lower-income borrowers the difference in monthly payments is negligible. It can be $10 or even less. For higher earners, the new IRB could raise their monthly payments up to $605 per month. All borrowers would face a minimum monthly payment of $10, which critics argue fails to meet the original intention of Congress when it established income-driven repayment plans in the 1990s: to provide affordable monthly bills.
“The new plan would fail to provide many borrowers with an affordable monthly bill,” said Cathy Curtis, highlighting the potential struggles that borrowers will face under these new terms.
Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., the new chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. We were grateful for Rep. McGarvey’s passionate defense of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He stated that the Republicans’ plans would alleviate the burden on taxpayers who are currently subsidizing college graduates’ loan payments. Critics say targeting is a bad idea and it will hit hardest people who are already fighting the hardest financial fires.
The newly proposed changes will effectively force borrowers into only two repayment plan options. This is limited to higher education loans borrowed after July 1, 2026. Right now there are about a dozen repayment plans and models out there to select from. Advocates for student borrowers are understandably alarmed by this narrowly tailored option. They contend that reducing the number of options would make it more difficult for borrowers to responsibly pay back their debts.
For instance, take a student loan borrower making roughly $80,000. They would be hit with a significant increase in their monthly payment. Under the GOP’s proposed RAP, their reimbursement would increase to $467. The now-blocked SAVE plan from the Biden administration would have provided a much lower monthly payment of $187.
Critics fear that the RAP that Republicans have proposed might be the only one available to borrowers. As a result, countless more individuals will experience life-altering outcomes. “If Republicans’ proposed ‘Repayment Assistance Plan’ is the only thing standing between borrowers and default, we can expect many to suffer the nightmarish experience of default,” warned Zampini.
The implications of these proposals, if implemented, would be profound, and represent a massive shift in the nature of the United States’ student loan repayment system. Hundreds of thousands of borrowers have been counting on a more user-friendly debt relief. In this new world of plans, they risk ending up in a worse, more precarious state.