Student loan borrowers are seeing a stark change in their payments after the Trump administration made significant changes to income-driven repayment plans. Some have seen their payments quadruple after programs such as former President Joe Biden’s SAVE plan were paused.

Student loan payment amounts have skyrocketed

Some recent graduates say their loan payments have quadrupled and more since the changes made by the Trump administration.

“My payment is going to quadruple,” Ally Rooker, a content creator, shared in a viral TikTok video. 

Her monthly student loan payment is set to increase from $250 to $900, she said.

Another person shared that her husband’s payment increased from $500 a month to nearly $5,000, which she noted is higher than a mortgage payment.

“It is an obscene amount and a huge portion of our income each month,” the TikToker said in a video posted on the app.

Attorney Ashley Morgan told KVUE that payment plans not based on income put borrowers in a precarious situation.

“I saw that my payments were going to more than quadruple – from $507.19 a month to $2,463.58 a month – starting in April,” she told the outlet. “When it’s not based on your income, it’s not affordable.”

Why is there an increase in student loan payment amounts?

A federal judge also blocked Biden’s SAVE plan last month, which affects eight million borrowers, according to Fortune. The Trump administration has also recently paused all applications for income-driven repayment plans and online loan consolidation. These plans have been removed from the Federal Student Aid website, which stopped borrowers from being able to apply or re-certify their income;

“I just wish that it was done in a more thoughtful way. And that middle-class people had more notice because most of us are living paycheck to paycheck,” Morgan told KVUE. “We can’t just sit around and wait, have our loan payments quadruple and try to figure that out.”

“I think something needs to be done at the governmental level,” she added. “But until that happens, people need to share their stories and let their congressional representatives know this issue is hurting the middle class.”

The news comes as nearly 50% of employees at the Department of Education were laid off with the end goal being to shut down the department entirely.