Rokeya Worthy was just doing her usual routine: logging in to make her monthly student loan payment. What she didn’t expect was to be hit with a big surprise.
For years, the 41-year-old marketing professional had kept up with her student loan payments, even though her family had to redirect the savings they had set aside for college when her father had an unexpected accident. As a result, she had to take out loans to cover her degree.
Like many Black graduates, who tend to face higher monthly student loan payments compared to their white peers, Worthy had been paying $278 a month, based on her income. This was part of an arrangement through the Department of Education to help graduates who might struggle to pay more.
But when she checked her payment schedule in early March, she was stunned. Her monthly payment had jumped to $746.77—more than $500 extra.
“I thought I was seeing things,” she told theGrio.
She immediately called her loan provider to find out what was going on. She learned that, due to a court injunction on the SAVE program and other Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) programs, and the removal of IDR applications online, she no longer had the option to pay based on her income.
“They told me that because of the injunction the current administration had put in place, we couldn’t recertify for IDR, and this was the payment I was now required to make,” Worthy explained. “They did offer a few repayment options, but none were affordable.”
Needless to say, Worthy was frustrated. “I was angry. I’m sitting there, trying to figure out how I’m going to afford this new payment, plus the rest of my student loans—and you’ve got life expenses on top of that.”
She wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Worthy shared her frustration on Facebook, and soon, her post was flooded with responses. “I’m sick… It really matters WHO you vote for,” she wrote. Many others chimed in with their own concerns.
“Having the same issue. I don’t know how they think we can afford it,” one person commented.
The SAVE program was part of President Joe Biden’s broader push to reduce or eliminate student loan debt for millions of borrowers, along with creating pathways for complete loan forgiveness. However, the Supreme Court dealt the Biden administration a setback when it ruled that the president overstepped his authority by trying to cancel student loans for so many people.
After that ruling, some Republican-led states sued over the SAVE program, calling it a “bailout” for privileged people—and they won. Their lawsuit led to a court injunction against the program, which then affected several income-driven repayment plans starting in February. This is what led the Department of Education to remove online applications for IDR—something that Worthy had been using to keep her payments manageable.
Worthy started to worry about her credit score and even reconsidered her dream of buying a home because her payments just weren’t affordable anymore.
But after a few anxious days, she got some better news. The Department of Education reactivated the IDR application online, though with a few changes. The option to choose the lowest payment and the possibility of loan forgiveness were both gone. “Forgiveness as a feature of any IDR plan created by ED is currently paused,” according to StudentAid.gov. In the meantime, Worthy decided to put her loans into forbearance for two months while her application was being processed.
“Everything is still kind of up in the air,” she said. “It might be manageable. But it’s just that nervousness of not knowing how it’s all going to work out with everything else.”
This uncertainty isn’t just affecting Worthy. It’s a nationwide issue. With former President Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education, there are talks of shifting student loan management to the Small Business Administration, which experts say could mean more reliance on private loan providers.
Although the IDR application system is back up, some applications submitted before the changes are still stuck in limbo.
For Worthy, this experience has been eye-opening. She now links her voting choices directly to real-world outcomes. After reading all the responses to her Facebook post, she realized just how widespread the effects of these government decisions are. People from all walks of life are feeling the impact.
“We’re all in this together when it comes to being affected by this current administration and the decisions they’re making,” she said. “All we can do is hope they consider all of that and know that we’re doing our best, taking it one day at a time, one payment at a time.”
