1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

I am deeply concerned about the higher education bill text for reconciliation. If the Congress allows the Trump administration to gut public service loan forgiveness, let alone income based repayment plans, my family’s financial future is in serious jeopardy. I have worked for 8 years after graduating with my PhD and made every payment as required during that time, until litigation against the SAVE plan threw my loan repayment status into chaos, freezing my ability to make any payment or elect any other income-based repayment plan. Do you get that? Since October, I have been unable to make a qualifying payment toward my loan. My loan balance is far larger than what I actually borrowed, because even though I worked throughout my undergraduate and graduate education, I needed loans to make ends meet. And the entire time I was in school, every one of those loans was accruing interest. And since I had 7 years of graduate education after my first loans borrowed as an undergrad, the interest has been growing a long time. Without a path to loan forgiveness, the public service career I have poured my life into will become an anchor around my neck. I will not be able to afford the basics if income-based repayments are scrapped. Please, please consider the devastating impact this higher ed bill will have on your constituents, and do not give it your support.