The Department of Education has moved to finish one of former President Joe Biden’s most popular student loan forgiveness plans, affecting millions of Americans, through a proposed joint agreement with the state of Missouri on Tuesday.
The pending agreement ends the Savings on a Valuable Education or “SAVE” plan, which houses more than 7 million student loan borrowers. It marks a major victory for the Trump administration’s efforts to bring back Biden-era policies, including Biden’s numerous efforts to implement student loan debt cancellation.
Education Department officials in the Trump administration, who have denounced such policies for months, suggested the administration is righting a wrong by ending the “deceptive scheme” of student loan forgiveness.
The Biden administration touted the plan to include $0 payments for anyone earning $16 an hour or less, reduce monthly payments for millions of borrowers, and protect borrowers from runaway interest if they are making their monthly payments.
“The law is clear: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back,” Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent. said in a statement from Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s department on Tuesday. “As the state of Missouri and other states fight back against this egregious federal overreach, American taxpayers can now rest assured that they will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for illegal and irresponsible student loan policies.”
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks during a news conference at the White House, Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The Biden administration launched the SAVE Plan, which it called the most affordable repayment plan ever created, after the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s previous debt relief program in 2023.
SAVE was one of several income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which calculate the size of the payment based on income and family size, intended for facilitate the payment process when a pandemic-era pause ended.
Several Republican-led states, including Missouri, sued the Biden administration over the plan, and a federal appeals court blocked the program in 2024.
Tuesday’s announcement would mark the end of those lawsuits.
McMahon, an outspoken critic of student loan forgiveness, has said the administration will no longer allow American taxpayers to take on debt. that are not yours.
“The Biden Administration’s illegal SAVE Plan would have cost taxpayers, many of whom did not attend college or already paid off their student loans, more than $342 billion over ten years,” McMahon wrote in a post on. “We will not tolerate it.”
Your agency is already loaded The Federal Student Aid Office (FSA) will provide support to currently enrolled borrowers in selecting a new “legal repayment plan,” the department said.
The department said borrowers will have a limited time to find a new payment plan. However, FSA’s Loan Simulator tool will estimate monthly payments, determine payment eligibility and select a new plan that best meets the needs and goals of those borrowers, the department said.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Nov. 19, 2025.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Shutterstock
Some student loan advocates worry that the proposed deal will unleash chaos among borrowers.
“The more than 7 million borrowers enrolled in SAVE will face higher monthly loan payments and may lose months of progress toward loan forgiveness,” Michele Zampini, associate vice president for federal policy. & defense at the Institute for University Access & Éxito (TICAS), wrote in a statement.
Persis Yu, deputy chief executive and administrative counsel at Protect Borrowers, said the move deprives borrowers of the most affordable repayment plan that would help millions stay current on their loans while keeping a roof over their heads.
“This agreement is pure capitulation; it goes far beyond what the Eighth Circuit’s lawsuit or order requires,” Yu wrote in a statement to ABC News. “The real story here is the right’s relentless push to raise costs for workers with student debt.”
News of the deal comes as Trump flagship domestic policy agenda, the One Big Beautiful Bill Actincluded a provision to terminate all current student loan repayment plans. how to SAVE and other income-based repayment plans, for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026.
Under that bill, the plans will be replaced by two separate payment plans: a standard payment plan and the Payment Assistance Plan (RAP), a new income-based payment plan arriving on July 1, 2026.
