Borrowers voice confusion over new student-loan rules and caps

Since the July 1 rollout of the Trump administration’s student-loan changes, more than a thousand borrowers have described a range of difficulties. The elimination of the SAVE plan forced borrowers to move to new plans within a 90-day window, but many received confusing or delayed notices and worry about being shifted to the most expensive standard option. Billing anomalies, including erroneous $50 payments and mistaken past-due warnings, have further muddied borrowers’ ability to budget.

The reforms also imposed a $100,000 lifetime cap for graduate studies and tighter limits for parent loans, while a court blocked a new definition of professional degrees, leaving the prior rules in place. Ongoing litigation seeks to stop forced plan transfers, and borrowers fear the caps may force them to abandon intended programs. The Education Department says it is correcting the glitches and will finish sending notices by the end of 2026.