This spring, my dreams came true: I was accepted to a tech-focused master's program at New York University for Fall 2025. After breaking into the tech industry, I thought this would be the next right step. I had been hopeful about receiving financial aid or scholarships, but none came through. I initially tried to convince myself that the $80,000 tuition was somehow manageable.
The government ran out of money to pay its bills on October 1 after Democratic and Republican lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement. This means that each federal agency's shutdown contingency plans, which include furloughing thousands of federal employees, closing national parks, and delaying grant disbursements, are now being rolled out. For the Department of Education, the shutdown will slow down the work of an already stripped-down agency.
Despite high-profile federal actions against universities like Columbia University; the University of California, Los Angeles; and others over the past few months, many higher ed watchers, including me, have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. While civil rights investigations, demands for massive settlements, cuts to grant funding and threats to institutional accreditation have led to real-world consequences, no institution has lost access to federal student loans.
If you're a college freshman, congratulations! You're now likely financially responsible for yourself. While that can be exciting, it can also be nerve-wracking especially if you don't have a lot of money. You have the freedom to control your own budget. At the same time, you may have thousands of dollars in student loans. How do you make smart financial decisions so you have enough money to spend at school and don't graduate with more debt than you need?
Your $45K starting salary looked decent on paper until reality hit. The reality is that's the same $15/hour everyone was making in 2008. And it sucked then. Rent swallows half your paycheck before you even think about groceries. Student loans demand their monthly tribute like a financial overlord. And that emergency fund your parents keep mentioning? Please. This isn't an avocado toast issue. This is a laptop is required to function at work... even apply to work... issue.
President Donald Trump's administration doesn't want you to ask for forgiveness - it wants you to ask for loan repayment options. On Friday, the Department of Education announced it is expanding its ombudsman's office, which typically handled student-loan borrower complaints, to also focus on consumer education and ensure that borrowers "are better equipped to make careful borrowing decisions and responsibly manage their federal student loan debt," the press release said.
ED is covering up its attempts to make [the Office of Federal Student Aid] less responsive to millions of students, families, and borrowers who rely on the agency to lower the cost of attending college and protect them from loan servicer misconduct," the senators wrote. "We urge you to immediately act on our findings by streamlining the 'Submit a Complaint' process and restoring FSA's workforce so borrowers can get the help they need.
The majority of current college students-61 percent-surveyed recently say that several changes to the federal student loan system that became law earlier this summer will directly impact them, according to a new poll from U.S. News & World Report. The key changes that students expect to affect them include caps on how much students can borrow, the elimination of some income-based repayment plans and the end of Grad PLUS loans.
"It's been an evolution and the recognition that student loans are here to stay, and, quite frankly, that the student loan debt crisis is real," says Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance for EdAssist by Bright Horizons, which offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment benefit plans.
TransUnion's analysis reveals a concerning trend: nearly two million student loan borrowers are at risk of defaulting this summer due to rising delinquency rates.
Nearly one in three federal student loan borrowers face the risk of default as delinquency rates reach alarming new heights, highlighting the urgent need for effective repayment strategies.
