Access to Some Student Loan Plan Applications Removed

The Department of Education has placed several student loan repayment options on hold in response to a court order and temporarily taken down access to applications, The Hill reported.

"A federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Education from implementing the SAVE [Saving on a Valuable Education] Plan and parts of other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. The Department is reviewing repayment applications to conform with the 8th Circuit's ruling," a department spokesperson said.

"As a result, the IDR and online loan consolidation applications are currently unavailable. In the meantime, borrowers can still submit a paper loan consolidation application. The Department updated information for borrowers on StudentAid.gov, including the page about court actions related to SAVE."

The complicated legal wrangling behind the current state of affairs with the loan programs involves a suit filed by several states challenging some aspects of how student loans and payments are processed or altered.

The latest ruling from the federal appeals court maintains a temporary hold issued by a lower court, pending additional action.

The Student Debt Crisis Center, which advocates on behalf of student borrowers, states on its website, "SDCC has helped to shift the narrative to include broad-based debt cancellation and debt relief for victims of for-profit colleges and disabled borrowers."

SDCC President Natalia Abrams said the loan program issues are the fault of the Trump administration, as reported by The Hill.

"Let's be clear. This was a purposeful decision by the Trump administration to harm borrowers and in no way needed to be done," she said.

"Shutting down access to income-driven repayment plans was not the decision of the 8th Circuit — it was a malicious move by the administration that will create serious hardship for millions of working families."

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