Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 10 - Issue 6

This Week In Washington

In a recent court filing, the Education Department (ED) confirmed that student loan forgiveness under Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) have continued. Last Friday, ED issued 11,000 loan forgiveness approval notices to student loan borrowers enrolled in the ICR Plan and the PAYE Plan.

On Wednesday, ED also released updated data on institutions’ nonpayment rates. An institution’s nonpayment rate is the percentage of Direct Loan borrowers who entered repayment since January 2020 and whose federal loans were more than 90 days delinquent at the time the data was collected, in May 2025. The data show that over 1,800 institutions have nonpayment rates at or exceeding 25%. The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) warns that the current metrics may be an early warning indicator that an institution is at risk of failing the cohort default rate measure.

News You Can Use

A new analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget shows how the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will reduce government costs for federal student loan programs, due to the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and the elimination of the Grad PLUS Loan Program.

National survey results published by College Ave show that most prospective graduate students view an advanced degree as essential to their career goals, yet 60% of respondents did not know that federal Grad PLUS Loans will be unavailable for new borrowers beginning July 1, 2026.

Recent Legislation

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 119th Congress (2025-26).