A top education official has a message for millions of student-loan borrowers: Don’t count on student-loan forgiveness.
During a conversation at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute on Thursday, Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the administration’s key focus is ensuring that borrowers are repaying their loans and have the tools they need to do so.
“The first thing I would say to a borrower is, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you were frustrated, and I’m sorry that you are confused about everything that has happened over the course of the last five or six years with regard to the federal student loan portfolio,'” Kent said.
He was referring to the Supreme Court’s decision that struck down former President Joe Biden’s attempt to forgive student loans broadly for federal borrowers, which he said added to borrowers’ confusion.
“What we have been trying to do is explain to borrowers that loan forgiveness is not happening,” Kent said.
While the Trump administration has been clear that repayment is its priority for borrowers, it’s rare for an official to have wide-ranging conversations about recent policy changes and what’s in store for borrowers; Kent discussed the elimination of the SAVE income-driven repayment plan, strategies to simplify student aid, and more.
The intended focus of Thursday’s conversation was the Department of Education’s March announcement that it will be transferring millions of student-loan accounts to the Treasury Department, beginning with 9 million defaulted borrowers.
Kent said that “there is no better partner” than the Treasury to handle collections and manage the $1.7 trillion student-loan portfolio. He also recommended that borrowers at risk of default enroll in the new Repayment Assistance Plan that will become available in July.
However, education policy experts said that the new plan could stick borrowers with higher monthly bills, with some facing hundreds of dollars more. Additionally, former government officials said the shift to Treasury could complicate repayment efforts for defaulted borrowers.
The partnership with Treasury, in addition to looming repayment changes, is part of the Trump administration’s broader goal to prioritize borrowers’ ability to make their payments. In September 2025, the department announced it was expanding its ombudsman’s office to focus on repayment tools, marking a shift from the Biden administration’s focus on carrying out broad debt relief.
“Being in default is not good for a borrower. It’s not good for a taxpayer. It’s affecting their credit score. It’s making it harder for them to buy a house or lease an apartment or to sometimes rent a car,” Kent said. “There are a multitude of tools that we have been working towards launching, or have launched to make it easier for borrowers get back into active repayment.”
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