Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans can help borrowers who are struggling to repay their student loans. These plans allow federal student loan borrowers to make lower payments over longer periods of time based on their income. At the end of the repayment term, if there is any remaining balance in a loan that is being paid through an IDR plan, the balance is forgiven. The Department of Education estimated that these repayment plans will ultimately cost the federal government $74 billion— we think they may be under or over by billions.
A team led by Melissa Emrey-Arras, a director in our Education, Workforce, and Income Security team, recently looked into how Education came up with its estimate. Listen to Melissa explain:
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