Portland students react to renewed student loan collection under Trump

It's a little scary. At PSU and college campuses nationwide. It's just really hard for people. A new financial reality is hitting students like a ton of textbooks. I am in the back of my head thinking, you know, what am I going to do with this new debt when I'm out of here? On Monday, the Trump administration announced that starting May 5th, the Education Department will start collecting on student loans in default to include garnishing wages. It's a first since the government paused loan collection efforts in 2020. Officials say right now, about 5.3 million federal student loans are in default. To that, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, quote, American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies. I'm very, very concerned about this latest step that they're taking. For several years, U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici has been hosting student loan forgiveness webinars, hoping to help students struggling financially. She says her experience paints a different picture of students navigating college debt. Most people are trying to pay back their student loans. They are. It's not like, oh, I'm just going to go to college and get a free ride. That's not what's happening. And this administration doesn't understand that because, as I said, they're out of touch. Everybody I know who's in school right now is working multiple jobs on top of school to make it work, just baseline. The Education Department urged borrowers in default to do one of three things. Contact the default resolution group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation. McMahon criticized colleges and universities that have profited off federal subsidy loans while hiking tuition rates, at least one concern rooted in common political ground. We have to make higher education more affordable.