These include:
- Making enrollment and re-enrollment in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans (payments based on income and family size) easier through data sharing between the Internal Revenue Service and the Education Department.
- Eliminating most instances of interest capitalization, or unpaid interest added to the principal, in IDR.
- Revising IDR plans to be more affordable and limit balance growth
- Allowing borrowers with loans in default a “fresh start” at the end of the three-year COVID-related payment pause payment pause that will end in the fall of 2023
- Awarding new contracts to federal loan servicers.
But many borrowers did not fully benefit from these policies, especially those who struggled to repay their loans. And people who found the repayment system overwhelming and had their loans fall into default often ended up in a cycle that was difficult to escape and was damaging to their financial well-being.
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ student loan initiative sought—through research, analysis, and engagement—to promote successful repayment of student debt among those most at risk of default and delinquency, and to help improve the federal student loan repayment system. The initiative also sought to better understand why many veterans borrowed to fund their education despite having access to the robust post-9/11 GI Bill. The project concluded in 2025.
