Publication | May 3, 2017

Make it Simple, Keep it Fair: A Proposal to Streamline and Improve Income-Driven Repayment of Federal Student Loans

Report provides practical roadmap for designing an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that works better for both students and taxpayers. Includes detailed proposal to streamline the multiple IDR plans into one improved plan that caps monthly payments at 10% of income, provides tax-free loan forgiveness after 20 years of payments, and targets benefits to borrowers who need help the most. Also analyzes and illustrates the trade-offs involved in different ways to design IDR and provides additional recommendations to help prevent delinquency and default.