Student Loans
2025 March
2025-03-07 Trump signed an executive order revising student loan forgiveness, adding the language “…to end taxpayer-funded student loan forgiveness for anti-American activists”, which leaves the order wide open for interpretation into what the Trump administration deems as “anti-American”. This is a dangerous precedent as they have historically and blatantly used retaliation against anyone they simply don’t like or whoever doesn’t align with their values.
2025 July
2025-07-15 A blogpost pointed out that students from low-income backgrounds will have fewer options to finance their education while losing access to essential social safety net programs and fewer repayment plan options with steeper monthly payments, all thanks to the Trump administration and their policies.
https://ticas.org/affordability-2/provisions-affecting-higher-education-in-the-reconciliation-law/
2025 November
2025-11-20 The Department of Education proposed to declassify nursing careers as “professional” for student loan purposes. This change sparked concern that nursing students would now face lower student loan limits.
https://nurse.org/news/nursing-excluded-as-professional-degree-dept-of-ed/
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/myth-vs-fact-definition-of-professional-degrees
https://www.nurse.com/blog/nursing-no-longer-classified-as-a-professional-degree-whats-at-stake/
2026 January
2026-01-01 Starting in 2026, the IRS will now consider cancelled student loans as income and they will be taxable.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/01/student-loan-forgiveness-taxes.html
2026 April
2026-04-28 Senator Merkley pressed DOE Linda McMahon on why she gutted the TRIO program designed to encourage professional nursing careers. McMahon claimed that somehow removing nursing jobs from a professional category would make tuition more affordable. What actually happens is students who can’t get a sufficient federal loan on a low interest rate will now have to seek out PRIVATIZED loan companies with a much higher interest rate. Remember, in November 2025 the DOE declassified nursing careers from being considered professional.
TIMESTAMP 5:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDtPiBp3j3Y&list=WL&index=1&t=321s