The press coverage of President Trump’s proposed changes to the federal student loan program has been nearly unanimous: The budget is a bad deal for college students. Prominent advocates for low-income student loan borrowers claim that they will have even more trouble affording college if Trump’s budget is enacted.

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Actually, Trump’s student loan reforms are designed to help this very group of borrowers. The proposed budget increases benefits for undergraduates who earn low and middle incomes after leaving school. More on that in a moment. Yet those who claim to be advocating for disadvantaged students seem more interested in propping up existing benefits for more privileged undergraduates, and especially, graduate students.

To be sure, Trump’s budget will make cuts to the loan program, if enacted. Borrowers who earn higher incomes after school will pay more on their loans, as will those who borrowed to finance a graduate degree.

Specifically, students who borrow for graduate school will only rarely have their loans forgiven because under the proposal they’ll need to make payments for 30 years to qualify, compared with 20 under the current income-based repayment program (IBR).

Loan forgiveness for public service will also be eliminated, but that program was created to, and mostly does, benefit graduate borrowers. And payments under IBR for both graduate borrowers as well as undergraduates will be set at 12.5 percent of discretionary income, up from 10 percent currently.

To be sure, Trump’s budget will make cuts to the loan program, if enacted. Borrowers who earn higher incomes after school will pay more on their loans, as will those who borrowed to finance a graduate degree. Specifically, students who borrow for graduate school will only rarely have their loans forgiven because under the proposal they’ll need to make payments for 30 years to qualify, compared with 20 under the current income-based repayment program (IBR). Loan forgiveness for public service will also be eliminated, but that program was created to, and mostly does, benefit graduate borrowers. And payments under IBR for both graduate borrowers as well as undergraduates will be set at 12.5 percent of discretionary income, up from 10 percent currently.

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Read the source article at aei.org