Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 8 - Issue 35

On Monday, the Education Department (ED) announced that borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) income-driven repayment plan would remain in forbearance for at least another six months. The forbearance, which first went into effect in July of this year, is due to the ongoing legal battle between ED and several states who claim that the SAVE plan is unlawful. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Thursday and will decide on the matter. If the Court rules that SAVE was not created legally, the Department of Justice is expected to appeal the case to the Supreme Court for consideration, which likely won’t issue a ruling until as late as June 2025, if the Court is able to hear the case this term. The forbearance is expected to affect nearly eight million borrowers who are enrolled in the SAVE plan.

The National Bureau of Economic Research published a working paper on the advantages of income-driven repayment plans for student loan borrowers, exploring how borrowers benefit from deferred payments, the distribution of benefits, and the cost-efficiency of existing repayment rules.

The College Board published its annual report on trends in college pricing and student aid, revealing that total federal loans to graduate students decreased by 13% between the academic years 2013-14 to 2023-24.

The Congressional Research Service published an updated report on the activities related to student loan debt relief that the U.S. Department of Education executed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic under the Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris Administrations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Credit Climb, a private, for-profit student lender, for making false claims regarding graduates’ hiring rates and salaries, which CFPB argues persuaded students to take out loans.

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 118th Congress (2023-24).