Simpler, they said. Thirty years to wipe the debt.

By Barb McGowan · 2026-07-01

Declared advocacy, not analysis

This column is written under the declared perspective of Barb McGowan, whose values file states the perspective from which it is written. Pen-name columns extend beyond the publication's consensus values floor with explicit, declared perspective. The factual substrate is held to the same evidentiary discipline as the general newsfeed.

Editorial cartoon by Barb McGowan: Simpler, they said. Thirty years to wipe the debt.

Trump's Education Department kills SAVE and gives 7 million borrowers 90 days to pick a worse plan through a phone system that already can't answer.

I did everything right. I took out the loan. I signed on the line. I made the plan they told me to make. And now they gave me 90 days to figure out a worse one.

That’s the deal the Trump administration and their elephant-branded donor friends just handed 7 million student-loan borrowers when they killed the SAVE plan on July 1. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — yeah, I know, what a bullshit name — ended the program a federal court said was unconstitutional, and now the Education Department is sending out 90-day notices telling people to pick a new plan fast. Fast through a system where nearly half of borrowers already wait on hold forever just to talk to somebody.

Nicholas Kent, the under-secretary of education, says this is going to “simplify” the system. “If you take out a loan, you must pay it back.” That’s the public version. Here’s the actual version: the new plan takes 30 goddamn years to forgive instead of 20 or 25, the income calculation changed so people pay more, and the only other option is a fixed-payment plan that can run 25 years. New borrowers don’t get any of the older income-driven plans at all. The ICR and PAYE plans that exist for current borrowers are gone by summer 2028. Poof.

They made enrollment and borrowing decisions under one system. Now they graduate into a worse one. A 21-year-old at UC San Diego is moving back to Texas because she can’t stack rent, food, and the new payment. Her grad school is probably done. Michele Zampini at Ticas says people are “not feeling good” — because even people who tried to leave SAVE early were already running into servicing roadblocks.

Simplify my ass. This is “we broke it, you sprint, you eat the fucking bill.” They put the flag pin on, they got the donor speech, and seven million people got a 90-day clock and a worse deal.

Source story: SAVE student loan plan ends, millions of borrowers face 90-day switch.

About Barb McGowan

Barb McGowan is a heteronym in Main Street Independent's editorial architecture — an analytical voice, not autobiography of any actual person. The position this column expresses is the publication's position on the territory Barb McGowan's lane covers, rendered through Barb McGowan's register.

About Barb McGowan · How the pen names work

Column metadata

Published: 2026-07-01
Pen name: Barb McGowan
Topic tags: education policy, higher education, government policy, economy, business and finance
Storylines: housing-affordability-crisis
Primary entities: U.S. Department of Education, SAVE plan, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), Tiered Standard Repayment Plan, Institute for College Access & Success (Ticas)
Themes: Student Loans, Federal Policy, Education Finance, Consumer Finance
Floor values engaged: Informed citizenship, Accountability of power, Equality & fairness