学生贷款倡导者将下周的中期选举视为一个机会，有望加强监督，并可能逆转特朗普政府那些拖延或拒绝债务减免、提高月供的政策。民主党有可能在周二夺回众议院和参议院，这或许会为学生贷款借款人创造一个更友好的环境——此前两年，这一体系经历了剧烈变化。尽管在特朗普政府仍然执政的情况下，议员们能做的有限，但倡导者们正寻求监督，并在预算谈判中为借款人争取一些胜利。
Student loan advocates see next week’s midterms as an opportunity for further oversight and potential reversals of policies from the Trump administration that have delayed or denied debt relief and increased monthly payments. Democrats have the potential Tuesday to retake the House and Senate, possibly creating a friendlier environment for student loan borrowers after two years of drastic changes to the system. While lawmakers could only do so much with the Trump administration still in charge, advocates are looking for oversight and some wins for borrowers in budget negotiations.
“民主党人可以单方面做的一件事是对教育部进行监督，这之所以至关重要，不仅是因为本届政府试图拆解它、将其拆分并转移到不同的机构，这可能损害其运作和服务学生的能力，”美国进步中心高等教育政策副主任萨拉·帕特里奇表示。“确保该部门仍在履行其法定职责的努力将非常重要，尤其是对学生贷款借款人而言，确保对贷款服务机构的监督到位、确保借款人获得所需的支持以应对还款方面的所有新变化，将是真正至关重要的，也应该成为民主党人在第120届国会中的重点，”帕特里奇补充道。
“One thing that Democrats could do unilaterally is conduct oversight over the Department of Education, which is essential not just because of this administration’s efforts to dismantle it and break it apart and move it into different agencies, which might compromise its ability to function and serve students,” said Sara Partridge, associate director of higher education policy at the Center for American Progress. “Efforts to make sure that the department is still carrying out its statutorily required duties will be very important, and in particular for student loan borrowers, ensuring that servicing oversight is happening and that borrowers are getting the support they need in order to navigate all of the new changes to repayments will be really essential and should be a focus of Democrats in the 120th Congress,” Partridge added.
自特朗普总统重返执政以来，学生贷款体系已被彻底颠覆，出现了新的贷款上限、更少的还款选项，以及学生债务减免重新被征税。许多变化来自《One Big Beautiful Bill》，该法案对本科生和研究生的借款设定了上限，对Parent PLUS贷款增加了限制，并为到2028年将学生还款选项缩减至仅剩两个计划设定了时间表。
The student loan system has been turned on its head since President Trump’s return to office, with new loan limits, fewer repayment options and taxes coming back on student debt relief. Many of the changes came from the One Big Beautiful Bill, which put ceilings on undergraduate and graduate borrowing, added restrictions to Parent PLUS loans and created a timeline for dwindling down student repayment options to just two plans by 2028.
众议院教育与劳动力委员会的一位民主党助手告诉《国会山报》，如果民主党夺回众议院控制权，加强对教育部的监督并提高公众透明度将是优先事项。倡导者表示，需要就贷款服务处理时长、公共服务贷款豁免等项目缺乏学生债务减免，以及政府将学生贷款组合移交财政部的计划给出答复。
A Democratic aide from the House Education and the Workforce Committee told The Hill that oversight of the Education Department and increasing transparency for the public would be priorities if the party takes the House. Advocates say there needs to be answers on loan servicing times, the lack of student debt relief through programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the administration’s plan to turn over the student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department.
保护借款人组织的政策主任艾萨·坎乔拉-巴涅兹表示：“我认为，由民主党主导的国会很可能会真正解决一些可负担性问题，无论是试图废除‘一个宏伟美好法案’中针对学生贷款体系的大规模削减措施。”她补充道：“我认为我们希望看到更多实质性的监督，并制衡政府在学生贷款领域的行动，这些行动导致人们面临大幅更高的还款额。”
“I think it’s likely to see a Congress led by Democrats really take on some of those affordability concerns, and whether that’s trying to roll back some of the massive cuts within the student loan system that were in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Aissa Canchola-Bañez, policy director at Protect Borrowers. “I think we would want to see more actual oversight and a check on this administration’s actions in the student loan space that are just really resulting in people seeing just significantly higher payments,” she added.
有史以来最慷慨的学生贷款计划——“珍视教育储蓄”(SAVE)计划——已被特朗普政府终止，迫使数百万借款人退出该选项，转入还款额更高的还款计划。特朗普政府辩称，其变革使学生贷款体系更简单，降低高等教育成本，防止联邦债务过度累积，并为纳税人创造更公平的体系。
The most generous student loan plan ever created — the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan — was ended by the Trump administration, forcing millions of borrowers to switch out of that option and enter higher repayment plans. The Trump administration argues its changes make the student loan system simpler, bring down the cost of higher education, prevent excessive amounts of federal debt and create a fairer system to taxpayers.
教育部次长尼古拉斯·肯特在教育部逐步终止SAVE计划时表示：“多年来，借款人陷入了令人困惑的不确定循环，但特朗普政府的政策很简单：如果你贷款，就必须偿还。”
“For years, borrowers have been caught in a confusing cycle of uncertainty, but the Trump Administration’s policy is simple: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said when the Education Department was winding down the SAVE plan.
倡导者担心，退出SAVE计划的潮流只会加剧学生贷款违约危机，目前有超过900万借款人处于违约状态，这可能影响信用评分，甚至导致工资被扣押。
Advocates worry that the exodus from the SAVE plan will only add to the student loan default crisis, with more than 9 million borrowers currently defaulted on their loans, which can affect credit scores and even lead to wage garnishment.
在这些担忧之际，一位众议院民主党助理表示，重点也可能重新转向《降低成就障碍法案》（LOAN Act），该法案由众议院教育委员会首席议员、众议员鲍比·斯科特（Bobby Scott，民主党-弗吉尼亚州）提出。《降低成就障碍法案》旨在为借款人提供更低的月供，扩大补贴贷款的获取渠道并降低利率。由于顽固的高通胀，尤其是能源和汽油价格居高不下，负担能力问题成为选民在中期选举前最关心的议题。
Amid these concerns, the House Democratic aide said a renewed focus could also be placed on the Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now (LOAN) Act, which was introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Education Committee. The LOAN Act aims to offer borrowers lower monthly payments, expanding access to subsidized loans and lower interest rates. And a focus on affordability is top of mind for voters going into the midterms due to stubbornly high inflation, particularly regarding energy and gas prices.
学生债务危机中心（SDCC）的一项民调显示，92%的学生借款人计划投票，其中88%表示债务将影响他们的投票决定。民调中近三分之二的人表示，为了负担学生贷款还款，他们正在削减其他方面的开支。但除了监督之外，在特朗普政府仍掌权的情况下，立法变革可能很难实现。“我不禁认为这只是中期选举，我们不会更换总统。我不知道我们是否会看到改变一切的大规模全面法案，但我们最希望看到的其中一件大事是加强监督，”学生债务危机中心主席娜塔莉亚·艾布拉姆斯（Natalia Abrams）表示。
A poll from the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) showed 92 percent of student borrowers plan to vote, with 88 percent saying their debt is influencing their vote. Nearly two-thirds in the poll said they are cutting back in other areas to afford student loan repayments. But beyond oversight, legislative changes could be tough with the Trump administration still in charge. “I can’t help but think this is just a midterm election, so we're not changing who our president is. I don’t know if we’re gonna have huge sweeping bills that change everything, but one of the biggest things we hope to see is oversight,” said Natalia Abrams, president of the SDCC.
“我们需要对学生贷款服务商、教育部进行更多监督，随着新一届国会的产生，我们可能会看到他们真正将部门官员或贷款服务商传唤到听证会上，试图发现并设法解决所有服务错误问题，”她补充道。
“We need so much more oversight on the student loan servicers, on the Department of Education, and with a new Congress, we could see them actually bring the folks at the department or loan servicers to hearings and try to discover and try to fix what’s been going on with all of the servicing errors,” she added.