A major group of borrowers is now officially cut off from affordable student loan payments and eventual loan forgiveness as of last week, advocates warned. The development comes after the Education Department implemented major changes to student loans on July 1 that fundamentally alter borrowers’ rights.

The July 1 regulatory changes were mandated under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, landmark legislation that congressional Republicans passed (and President Donald Trump signed into law) last year. The changes authorized under the bill will impact nearly every student loan borrower in America. But the harshest changes will affect borrowers with Parent PLUS loans, a type of federal student loan issued to the parent of an undergraduate student.

Unlike most other types of student loans, the student is not legally responsible for the repayment of a Parent PLUS loan, even though the loan pays for their college education. Instead, the parent of the student is the legal borrower, and it is the parent who must repay the loan. But now that July 1 has passed and the new legislative updates are in effect, Parent PLUS borrowers will have far more limited repayment options going forward, and many will be completely cut off from the most popular student loan forgiveness programs.

Here’s the latest on the July 1 changes to student loans, and how they will impact Parent PLUS borrowers going forward.

Parent PLUS Borrowers Who Consolidated Their Student Loans Are Protected

Parent PLUS borrowers historically have been able to access income-driven repayment plans, a type of repayment option for federal student loans that allows borrowers to make payments based on their income, only if they consolidated their loans through the federal Direct consolidation program. That Direct consolidation loan could then be repaid under the Income-Contingent Repayment, or........

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