Project 2025 and Donald Trump Want to Make Student Loans More Expensive

Republicans have been trying to abolish the Department of Education since it was created, and Donald Trump has embraced this position. Eliminating the Department of Education would drastically reduce resources for underserved communities, boosting inequality for generations.

However, one of the less-reported facets of the Trump and Project 2025 agenda is the plan for decimating higher education and making student loans more expensive. The plans include:

• Privatizing all federal student loans, allowing banks to charge higher interest rates and discriminate against borrowers who want to pursue non-bank-approved career paths
• Eliminating income-based loan repayment plans
• Eliminating student loan forgiveness programs
• Ending the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
• Blocking financial aid to students from states that allow DREAMers to receive in-state tuition, punishing up to two-thirds of American citizens for the policies of their state governments
• Rescinding rules implemented by the Biden-Harris administration that allow those who were defrauded by their colleges to receive reimbursement
• Eliminating PLUS Loans

Independent analysis has shown these changes could cost the average borrower $2,700 to $4,000 more annually. Loan payments for community college students could be up to three times more expensive.

President Biden has received enormous backlash against his inability to forgive student loans. His first attempt to forgive up to $400 billion in student loan debt was overturned by the Supreme Court. Donald Trump appointed three of the six justices who voted against forgiveness, so you could say that Donald Trump has already prevented student loan forgiveness.

Since the ruling, the administration has forgiven $168.5 billion in student loans through five separate programs. Should Trump be elected, all student loan forgiveness will stop and loan repayment costs will skyrocket.

Republicans are trying to replace public education in the United States with something more akin to an education oligarchy where those rich enough can afford it, and everyone else can serve them.