Committee on Education and the Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the National Education Association’s 3 million members and the students they teach and support in public schools, colleges, and universities across America, we appreciate the opportunity to offer comments for the committee’s markup of the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan, and we urge you to vote NO on this bill. Votes on this issue will be included in the NEA Report Card for the 119th Congress.
This reconciliation bill would finance tax cuts for billionaires by limiting students’ access to higher education and, therefore, their dreams, and negatively impact the economic future of our nation. We specifically oppose these provisions of the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan, but we have concerns beyond the issues we have listed:
Amount of Need; Cost of Attendance; Median Cost of College: Caps the total amount of federal student aid a student can receive annually at the “median cost of college,” which is defined as average cost of attendance for students enrolled in similar degree programs nationally and calculated by the U.S. Secretary of Education from the previous award year.
Loan Limits: Makes changes to the number of federal student loans offered to students and changes loan limits for various programs.
- Terminates authority to make GradPLUS loans and subsidized loans for undergraduate students on or after July 1, 2026; includes a three-year exception for students who were enrolled in a program of study as of June 30, 2026, and had received such loans for such program.
- Unsubsidized Loans: Amends the maximum annual loan limit for unsubsidized loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, to the median cost of students’ program of study; amends aggregate limits for such loans disbursed to students for an undergraduate program ($50,000), graduate program ($100,000), and professional program ($150,000).
- Parent PLUS Loans: Requires undergraduate students to exhaust their unsubsidized loans before parents can utilize Parent PLUS to cover their remaining cost of attendance; establishes an aggregate limit for Parent PLUS loans of $50,000 for parents on behalf of their dependent child; includes a three-year exception for students who were enrolled in a program of study as of June 30, 2026, and had received such loans for such program.
- Additional Reforms. Allows financial aid administrators to reduce annual borrowing limits below the statutory maximum as long as such limits are applied equally to all and requires federal student loans to be pro-rated for students who are enrolled less than full-time.
Loan Repayment: Condenses current student loan repayment options into two new plans, a 10-year “mortgage-style” plan and a revamped income-driven repayment (IDR) plan entitled the “repayment assistance plan.”
90/10 and Gainful Employment Rules: Repeals both and eliminates the authority for any future regulations by the Executive Branch
Borrower Defense to Repayment and Closed School Discharges Rules: Repeals the Borrower Defense to Repayment and the Closed School Discharge rules, which protect students and their families when they were defrauded or misled by institutions of higher education, or if the institutions they attend close while they are enrolled or soon after they withdraw.
Limitations on Secretary of Education’s Authority: Requires the Secretary of Education to confirm that any new regulations or executive actions issued related to the student loan program will not increase costs to the federal government; prohibits any regulations from being issued that cannot meet that threshold.
The Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan would ultimately deny students the opportunities that could benefit them, their families, and communities—all to pay for tax cuts for our nation’s wealthiest citizens. We urge you to vote NO on this bill.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
