What’s Going on With Student Loans? How To Navigate Uncertainty in 2025

Decades ago, when I took out my first student loan, I thought little beyond the widely held notion that drove guidance counselor offices in the 1990s: Go to college, get a job, and you'll pay them off. Debt, we were told, was the pathway to financial security.

For many student loan borrowers, including myself, the path forward has been less clear-cut. Beyond the general complexities and nuances of large-scale debt lies something even more challenging to pin down: shifting federal policies.

Current private student loan refinance rates

The state of federal student loan repayment programs has been uncertain since the COVID-19 pandemic. And that uncertainty has increased in 2025 as President Donald Trump moves to significantly reduce the federal government's involvement in higher education, including a much different approach to student loans.

If you're among the 42.7 million borrowers who collectively owe more than $1.6 trillion, you've probably asked yourself the same question that keeps me up at night: What will happen to federal student loan debt under Trump?

The answer may not be clear for a while. Still, if you find yourself in the trenches of student debt uncertainty, these tips may help you weather the storm.

6 Ways to Deal with Student Debt Uncertainties in 2025

While the future of student loans and the Department of Education is uncertain, there are some things you can do to take control of your loans and better position yourself for any potential changes over the next few months or years.

1. Find out who is servicing your loans

If your student loans have been on the back burner for a while, due to either income-driven repayment (IDR) plans that are in legal limbo or personal circumstances, the first thing you should do is find out who is servicing your loans.

Even if you have federal loan debt, the Department of Education doesn't manage those loans. Instead, they contract with loan servicers. As of April 2025, the Department of Education has seven student loan servicers, including EdFinancial, AidVantage, and MOHELA.

But loan servicers can change, and that has been true for many borrowers. For instance, Navient used to service a significant portion of federal loans. Its contract ended in 2021, and many of its federal loan accounts were transferred to AidVantage.

The best way to find out who is serving your federal loans is to log into your StudentAid.gov account. Once logged in, visit your dashboard (you may automatically land on this page), and you can typically scroll down to see your loan details, including an option to “Pay on Servicer Website.” You can also visit the “Who My Loan Servicer” page and click on the “Find My Servicer” button.

2. Review your loans and verify information

Once you have determined who is servicing your loans, log in to your accounts and review the following:

• Contact information. Your servicer must have the correct phone number, email address, and physical address to ensure you receive all correspondence and notifications regarding your loan.
• Your loan balance and interest rates. The information on your servicer's website should match the information on StudentAid.gov. If you find discrepancies, please contact your loan servicer to verify that the information is accurate on their end. If there is no resolution, you can file a complaint on StudentAid.gov.
• Status of your loan. The status of your loan is key to understanding your repayment obligations. Generally, your loan can be in one of the following: Repayment, grace period, forbearance, deferment, delinquent, or default.

After you review the information, consider downloading or taking screenshots of your current loan information, both on your servicer's site and StudentAid.gov. This is particularly important if you're enrolled in an IDR plan. Keeping track of your qualifying payment can serve as a safeguard as various federal government departments and corresponding websites undergo changes.

3. Periodically check in

It's tempting to avoid your student loan accounts. Maybe your payments are paused while IDR cases make their way through the courts, or perhaps you set up auto payments and are taking a set-it-and-forget-it approach. But in today's ever-changing loan landscape, that approach can put you at risk.

Ideally, your student loan servicer should communicate any changes to your loan or repayment status, but that's not always the case.

Missed emails, incorrect contact information, or administrative errors can leave borrowers in the dark. This can lead to significant issues if your repayment status changes or if you miss a deadline to recertify an IDR plan.

“With continued changes in student loan policy under the current administration, it's more important than ever for borrowers to stay proactive and informed,” says Bruce McClary, Senior Vice President, Media Relations & Membership at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He highlights the SAVE Plan and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility as two areas where key developments may occur. Still, even if you aren't in SAVE or PSLF limbo, other changes can occur that may affect your repayment.

“Borrowers should regularly visit StudentAid.gov and monitor updates from their servicers, especially as servicer transitions and updates to IDR account adjustments are ongoing in 2025,” McClary advises. “It's also important to understand your loan type since eligibility for relief and repayment options varies widely.”

4. Be on the lookout for misinformation and fraud

Fraud and misformation are always lurking, especially when it comes to debt resolution. Federal loan borrowers have recently become a prime target, and social media is a major purveyor of financial myths.

One popular myth circulating on social channels, including my own, falsely claims that once the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessed student loan borrower information, it committed a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which would trigger loan forgiveness. That's not the case, warns Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance.

“FERPA has nothing to do with getting loan forgiveness,” and even a real violation wouldn't erase a borrower's debt, he says.

Unfortunately, Buchanan says viral posts like these have led hundreds of thousands of borrowers to file baseless complaints with credit bureaus. Then, operating under the assumption that the violation would lead to forgiveness, borrowers cease to make payments and end up delinquent. That delinquency is reported to the credit bureaus, something Buchanan says puts borrowers in a potentially worse position.

Social media isn't the only purveyor of falsehoods.

“The rise in borrower confusion has unfortunately opened the door to fraudulent actors promising loan forgiveness for an advance fee,” McClary notes.

Buchanan was also quick to raise this concern. One of the most significant problems he sees is entities offering student loan management services or access to the “best” repayment plan in exchange for a fee. And while some of those services may be legitimate, others are not. Telling them apart can be very difficult, Buchanan notes.

If you receive such an offer, it's vital to verify its legitimacy before engaging in any way with the sender. Scott warns borrowers that they should be incredibly wary of “anyone who calls you and says, 'I can solve your problem for you,' is actively reaching out, and is not your official servicer or the Department of Education.” Offers of a “fee for service solution” should also raise a red flag, he says.

5. Make a repayment plan

It's hard to make a plan when everything seems so up in the air. One recurring piece of advice I've heard is to make a plan based on the known variables.

Buchanan advises borrowers to consider their current financial situation and repayment options. Ask yourself what options are available based on your income, family size, and the amount of student debt you have. After evaluating the options, he recommends finding the best plan and getting into it quickly.

The changing federal loan landscape is one reason Buchanan recommends swift action, noting that loan servicers can now report missed payments and delinquencies to credit bureaus, following the end of a Biden-era “on ramp” for borrowers in default. He further cautions that borrowers who ignore their student loans can have negative consequences that follow them for years to come.

Read more: Federal Student Loan Collections Are Back: What To Do if You're in Default

McClary echoes this sentiment, highlighting the damage a missed payment can do to your credit score.

“Missed payments and defaults on student loans can have a substantial negative impact on a borrower's credit score. Since payment history is the single most influential factor in most credit scoring models, even a single 30-day late payment can result in a drop.”

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to repayment. But there are some things you can do to choose the best repayment plan for you:

• Leverage StudentAid.gov tools, like repayment calculators, to see what your payments may be under available repayment plans.
• Consider your goals. Do you want the lowest payment, or do you want to pay off your debts faster and accumulate the least amount of interest? Are you seeking/eligible for an IDR plan with forgiveness, or do you want to pursue one of the other repayment plans offered?
• For personalized guidance, consider working with a legitimate, nonprofit student loan repayment counseling service, such as the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).

If you're not in repayment, whether due to forbearance, deferment, or a grace period, now's a good time to start making a repayment plan and getting your budget in order, potentially putting aside cash to help you meet repayments when they resume.

If your loans are in a general forbearance due to litigation, your options are generally to move into a new repayment plan or wait to see how it plays out in court. Which path you choose is dependent on your unique financial situation.

For instance, Buchanan notes that for recent graduates or borrowers who are only a couple of years into a forgiveness plan, the best option may be to stay put until the court settles whether that plan will be available going forward.

On the contrary, borrowers nearing the end of their forbearance period and who simply want to reach their required number of payments may want to contact their servicer to discuss options for exiting forbearance and resuming payment.

If you're delinquent, contact your servicer immediately to discuss your options. In April, the Trump administration announced plans to resume collections on defaulted student loans following a five-year pause that began during the pandemic. That could mean wage garnishment, tax refund seizures, and Social Security benefit offsets of as much as 15%.

6. Take care of your mental health

According to a recent study by ELVTR — an online education platform that offers courses focused on professional development — 54% of borrowers surveyed indicated that they felt anxiety due to their student debt, while 32% reported that their debt caused depression. The uncertainty surrounding student debt can exacerbate these conditions, particularly when it's paired with other financial burdens, such as job loss and inflation.

Though I didn't participate in the survey, I'm among those who find themselves anxiously thinking about student debt, especially as the Department of Education garners its share of “breaking news” headlines.

To learn more about how borrowers could cope, I spoke with Diane Webber, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who specializes in financial anxiety, among other things. Here are some tips on how to deal with student loan debt anxiety:

• Slow down and take a pause. If you're spiraling over student debt, Webber's first recommendation is to “simply slow down a little bit at first” and to give yourself “permission to reflect on your options and pay attention to both the reasoning and the emotional side of things.”
• Acknowledge your feelings. Student debt plays a significant role in the lives of many Americans, and it's okay if your first reaction isn't one centered in cool, calm, and collected thought. “If you feel stuck, frustrated, or resentful about your loans, recognize it's valid. Give yourself space to acknowledge those feelings without letting them drive your decisions.”
• Assess your current options. Webber, like Buchanan, advises focusing on your current options: “What are some decisions I can make for myself right now based on what I know about the circumstances, the programs, and my amount of debt?”
• Balance awareness with self-preservation. Getting a handle on your student debt is essential. Once you understand your debts and repayment status, step back and check in at regular intervals, but not obsessively. For instance, Webber notes, “If your loan servicer says nothing will change until May 1, you don't need to check every day. Make a note to check on May 2 instead of letting it consume you.”
• Take small yet meaningful steps. For some, the thought of even logging into their student loan account can be daunting. Webber notes that “if logging in to check your loans gives you anxiety, just touch it. Just log in, spend five minutes, and log out. Start normalizing it, one small step at a time.”
• Don't be afraid to seek help. A certain level of anxiety around finances may be normal, but if it's consuming you, consider consulting a professional. “Notice if your distress is affecting your sleep, your relationships, your quality of life, or your ability to go to work. Those may be red flags that it's time to talk to someone,” Webber advises.

Should you move your federal loans to the private sector?

For years, the conventional wisdom regarding student loans has pointed to the federal landscape as the safer option compared with private lenders. Federal loans have traditionally offered more repayment options, potential student loan forgiveness, and additional support for borrowers during financial hardships.

But is that still the best way to deal with student loan debt?

Federal borrowers continue to have access to various benefits, including IDR plans, as well as forbearance and deferment. As each of the experts I spoke with suggests, the best course of action for borrowers is to make decisions based on the information and options currently available.

It's likely not wise to make a spur-of-the-moment jump from federal loans to private ones out of fear of what may happen down the line. Still, every borrower must weigh the pros and cons of the federal vs. private student loan debate on their own or with the assistance of a financial expert.

That said, some borrowers may benefit from transitioning to the private sector. Buchanan suggests that refinancing student loans with a private lender might be a viable option for those who have relatively high interest rates and, due to their income, are unlikely to meet the threshold for income-based repayment plans.

“If someone is graduating and going into a relatively lower-income job or just has an undergraduate degree, oftentimes refinancing is probably not a great idea for them,” he says.