Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent told an American Enterprise Institute audience Thursday that federal student loan forgiveness “is not happening,” highlighting the administration’s tone as it moves defaulted accounts to the Treasury Department and shutters the SAVE plan.
it comes from a livestream question and answer sessionWhich is one of the most public conversations yet about major changes to student loans this year.
why it matters: Kent’s comments are the clearest indication yet that the Trump administration intends to bring the $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio back into repayment after nearly six years of pauses and false starts. For about 42 million federal student loan borrowers, the near-term question is simple: Which repayment plan to choose and how to avoid default.
What Kent said: Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on April 23, 2026, Kent began with an unusual apology: “I’m sorry that you are confused about what has happened during the last five or six years with respect to the federal student loan portfolio.He pointed to a Supreme Court decision that rejected former President Biden’s blanket forgiveness plan as the source of the borrower hit.
“We are trying to make the borrowers understand that loan waiver is not happeningKent said.
Policy Reference: Kent’s AEI negotiations were structured around the Education Department’s agreement to transfer defaulted student loan collections to the Treasury, starting with approximately $180 billion in defaulted loans held by approximately 7.7 million borrowers. Kent called the Treasury “no better partner” to manage the portfolio.
He steered borrowers at risk of default towards the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), a new income-driven repayment plan option to be launched on July 1, 2026. Following the OBBBA changes, most borrowers will have to choose between RAP and Income-Based Repayment (IBR).
Kent also addressed efforts to simplify federal student aid and maintain the department’s Office of the Ombudsman to handle repayment questions.
By default, Kent was clear: “Being in default is not good for the borrower. This is not good for the taxpayer. This is affecting their credit score. This is making it difficult for them to buy a house or rent an apartment or sometimes even rent a car.“
Second aspect: Some policy analysts have said that RAP could generate higher monthly bills than SAVE for many borrowers, with some payments increasing by hundreds of dollars. Senate Democrats have urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant to rescind the Treasury transfer, and former department officials have warned that the transfer could complicate rehabilitation paths for defaulted borrowers.
How it connects: College Investor is keeping an eye on the student loan situation. 7.7 million borrowers already in default when collections resume, the forbearance on the SAVE plan expiring this summer, the RAP plan launching on July 1 with IBR as the only two income-driven options for new borrowers, and the Senate’s backlash against moving the portfolio to Treasury.
Kent’s AEI comments pull those threads together into one administration message: The repayment plan is there, and borrowers need to work on it.
what to watch: A lot of things are going to happen over the next several months:
- July 1, 2026: RAP opens
- September 30: Save tolerance ends
- Treasury’s collection begins this summer
- Congressional opposition to the interagency transfer and any resulting litigation.
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