Washington, D.C. – With affordable student loan repayment options at risk under the Trump Administration, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Virginia’s U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today led their colleagues to launch a new effort to protect and expand federal student loan repayment programs.
The Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) Act creates a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan—which links payments to a borrower’s income and family size—to better protect borrowers from unaffordable payments, runaway balances due to rapidly accruing interest, and offer a clearer path to debt relief after at least a decade of payments. The SOAR Act codifies, expands, and strengthens the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan that President Biden introduced to help student loan borrowers nationwide in 2023.
“As the first in my family to go to college, I know the barriers that too many students face in accessing higher education,” said Merkley. “Income-driven repayment programs are an essential tool to address America’s student debt crisis. As Republicans threaten to raze the SAVE Plan and other affordable repayment options for students, we need to fight back by ensuring students have a much-needed path to loan forgiveness, now and in the future.”
“Student loan debt is holding Virginians and our economy back,” said Kaine. “Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan was designed to help address that issue by making the burden of student loan repayment easier for borrowers. Especially in the face of President Trump’s attempt to threaten repayment options, I’m proud to introduce the SOAR Act, legislation that would codify, expand, and strengthen the SAVE Plan to help student borrowers design a monthly student loan repayment plan that works for them.”
The Trump Administration is expected to abandon the SAVE plan and its affordable payments in the face of ongoing Republican-backed legal challenges to the plan, and Congressional Republicans are openly discussing their plans to eliminate it as part of their reconciliation budget bill. Permanently dismantling this program would have disastrous implications for the 8 million Americans already enrolled in SAVE plans with income-driven repayment and the millions more that need more affordable repayment options.
Merkley and Kaine’s SOAR Act is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), The Institute of College Access & Success (TICAS), Student Borrower Protection Center, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Consumer Action, National Urban League, Student Debt Crisis Center, The Education Trust, UnidosUS, and Young Invincibles.
“Income-driven repayment plans give millions of borrowers the right to pursue a life and career free from the shackles of onerous student debt. And they are the only way for public service workers to benefit from Public Service Loan Forgiveness—a critical lifeline for teachers, nurses, first responders and countless others. While the new administration and its pliant allies in Congress seem intent on stripping away these options and making life harder for working people, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Tim Kaine are introducing the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act to ease the squeeze. The AFT won’t rest until we make college more accessible and affordable, and we urge Congress to pass the SOAR Act as an important step toward that goal,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.
“Nowadays, most students from working and middle-class families must take out federal student loans to pay for college or job training. After leaving school, they need an affordable and reliable pathway to pay their loans and become debt-free; otherwise, loans taken out to open doors can instead become financial traps. The SOAR Act addresses this need by strengthening and codifying the SAVE Plan, and thus delivering the most affordable payment plan and making good on the promise that everyone who must borrow to access education has a path to become debt-free,” said Abby Shafroth, Co-Director of Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients).
“NEA applauds Senators Merkley and Kaine for introducing the SOAR Act, a bill designed to create an affordable and accessible federal student loan repayment pathway. As an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, SOAR will work in tandem with Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). This will strengthen the educator pipeline and other careers that lead to public sector jobs that provide essential services for every community, especially in rural and underserved areas,” said Marc Egan, Director of Government Relations at the National Education Association (NEA).
“With right wing litigants taking aim at the SAVE plan and now Congressional Republicans looking to gut the student loan safety net and eliminate Income-Driven Repayment through reconciliation, the SOAR Act will codify and strengthen critical protections that borrowers rely on to access more affordable monthly payments and eventual relief. Under the SOAR Plan all borrowers will be are able to benefit from affordable monthly payments —including Parent PLUS borrowers—and have access to a more expedited timeline for relief,” said Aissa Canchola Banez, Policy Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center. “We applaud Senators Merkley and Kaine for standing up for borrowers and strengthening desperately needed protections.”
“We strongly support the SOAR Act, which would improve the federal student loan repayment system to better protect millions of borrowers across the country. This timely, common-sense bill would provide access to affordable payment options and ensure borrowers are not stuck in debt for a lifetime,” said Michele Zampini, Senior Director of College Affordability at The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS).
In addition to Merkley and Kaine, the SOAR Act is cosponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA).
Full text of the SOAR Act can be found by clicking here.
A one-pager on the SOAR Act can be found by clicking here.
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