TICAS President Sameer Gadkaree issued the following statement in response to two court rulings halting the Biden Administration’s full implementation of its SAVE repayment plan for federal student loan borrowers:
“Yesterday’s court actions against the SAVE Plan are a terrible blow to student loan borrowers throughout the country. As part of the longstanding income-driven repayment system created by Congress and the Department of Education, the SAVE Plan is designed to prevent student loan defaults by protecting borrowers from unaffordable monthly payments and to keep borrowers with low incomes from facing a lifetime of debt. Without access to this option, millions of borrowers are at risk of higher monthly payments, ballooning balances, and longer repayment periods, and will be more likely to end up in default.
“Although the Department of Education immediately appealed last night’s preliminary injunctions barring the Biden Administration’s full implementation of the SAVE Plan, the Department must also act quickly to communicate with the millions of student loan borrowers who face chaos and confusion after last night’s rulings. Borrowers enrolled in SAVE do not yet know how the rulings will affect their monthly payments, loan balances, or prospects for loan discharge, impacts that could come before their next payment is due.
“TICAS strongly supports the SAVE Plan and we urge policymakers to defend it. As long as this litigation is ongoing, the Department must, at minimum, extend the current ‘on-ramp’ period to hold borrowers harmless for any late, partial, or missed payments and ensure that borrowers do not face a sudden spike in their monthly payment amounts. In addition, no borrower should be placed in delinquent status or face any type of collections. The Department must also provide clear and frequent guidance to borrowers as to how these rulings will affect their loans.”
