Advocacy groups are sounding the alarm about increasing problems with federal student loan programs as the Education Department rushes to implement a raft of regulatory and legislative reforms. As borrowers struggle to access key programs, and processing issues become more widespread, some groups are calling on President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to suspend payments and interest on student loans.

"The White House paused payments in 2020 under less severe circumstances, and they have the power to do it again," said Natalia Abrams, President of the Student Debt Crisis Center, in a statement on Wednesday announcing that a petition calling for pausing payments on student loans had gained 130,000 signatures.

Here’s what’s going on with student loans right now, and what borrowers need to know.

Huge Changes To Federal Student Loans Are Now Getting Implemented

The Education Department is implementing some of the most widespread changes to federal student loans in decades following last year’s passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and recent court rulings. New regulations and policies to effectuate many of these reforms went into effect starting in July. Millions of federal student loan borrowers are already feeling the impacts:

The Education Department is in the process of phasing out the SAVE plan, a Biden-era income-driven repayment program, following a court-ordered entry of a settlement agreement that terminated the program’s regulations. The department has been sending out waves of notices roughly every two weeks since July 1, giving borrowers with student loans enrolled in SAVE just 90 days to switch to a different plan, or they could face financial peril.

At the same time, the department launched the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, a new income-driven repayment plan created under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, as well as a new Tiered Standard repayment plan. RAP offers........

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