1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the proposed settlement agreement that would end the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) student loan repayment plan and instead support mass student loan forgiveness for borrowers facing an unprecedented crisis. The Department of Education's decision to capitulate to Republican state attorneys general led by Missouri is abandoning 7 million borrowers who relied on SAVE, the most flexible and generous income-driven repayment plan that offered monthly payments as low as $0 for low-income borrowers and expedited loan forgiveness. These borrowers have been in limbo for months without required payments, and now face being forced into less favorable repayment plans that will make their loans significantly more expensive. The timing of this settlement could not be worse. According to recent American Enterprise Institute analysis of federal student loan data, approximately 12 million borrowers are already worryingly behind on payments: 5.5 million are currently in default, 3.7 million are more than 270 days late and on the edge of default, and another 2.7 million are in earlier stages of delinquency. Adding 7 million SAVE borrowers who have not been in active repayment for years into this already strained system is a recipe for mass default. The proposed settlement would stop new SAVE enrollments, deny all pending applications, and rush borrowers into selecting new plans on an accelerated timeline, moving the deadline up from July 1, 2028 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Loan servicing companies are unprepared to handle this transition, and borrowers will lack the support they need. Rather than forcing borrowers into more expensive repayment plans during a default crisis, I urge you to support mass student loan forgiveness that provides real relief to millions of Americans drowning in debt. The current approach is pushing borrowers toward financial ruin.