He almost moved to Alaska instead

A court filing dropped this week with a number that matters if you’re waiting on anything from your servicer right now: 643,000 borrowers are still in line.

That’s 553,966 people waiting on an income-driven repayment plan application as of the end of March. Another 89,720 are waiting on a PSLF Buyback decision.

The IDR backlog has come down — it was nearly 1.4 million last July. And in March, the Department forgave about 21,200 borrowers under their IDR plans after forgiving zero in February. Things are moving. Just not fast.

The PSLF Buyback line, though, continues to grow. It was 80,210 in November, 83,370 in December, and now it’s almost 90,000.

If you’re one of the people waiting, you already know what that feels like. You applied, you did everything right, and now you’re just… sitting there. Meanwhile, about 9 million borrowers are in default, and 42% of federal borrowers say their payments make it harder to cover basics like food and housing.

The backlog is expected to get worse now that the Department has set a deadline for millions of borrowers to exit the SAVE plan.

If you’re waiting on IDR processing or a Buyback decision, there’s not much to do except wait. But if you haven’t applied yet and you’re on SAVE, don’t sit on it. The deadline is real.

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If you’re a parent helping your kid pay for grad school — or a borrower thinking about going back yourself — here’s what changed.

The GradPLUS loan program is gone. Starting July 1, students entering graduate programs can’t borrow up to the full cost of attendance. The new cap is**$20,500 a year** for most programs, and**$50,000** for professional degrees like medicine, law, and dentistry.

That sounds like a lot until you look at what grad school actually costs. The average physician assistant student borrows $45,000 a year. Dental students average $83,000. Even a lot of MBA programs come in above the cap.

A Philadelphia Fed analysis estimates 28% of graduate students would exceed the new limits. About four in ten of those would have trouble qualifying for private loans without a co-signer.

So if you’re a parent whose kid is heading to grad school this fall, the financing picture just got more complicated. And if you’re a borrower thinking about going back, the private loan market doesn’t work like the federal system. Interest rates vary. Approval isn’t guaranteed. And the repayment protections you’re used to — IDR, PSLF, deferment options — don’t exist in the private world.

This doesn’t mean grad school is off the table. It means the math changed, and you need to run the new numbers before you commit.

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Meanwhile, there’s movement in Congress on two fronts — neither likely to go anywhere, but worth knowing about.

First, Rep. Chuy García led30 colleagues in a letter demanding answers about a federal student loan oversight report that was rewritten before publication. The original was drafted by the former CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman, Julia

Barnard. According to reporting, the version released to the public was significantly shortened and edited by Trump-appointed leadership.

Second, Senators Tim Kaine, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker introduced a resolution to overturn a new PSLF rule set to take effect in July. The rule would give the Education Secretary the power to disqualify employers from PSLF if she determines their work has a “substantial illegal purpose.” Critics say it’s targeted at organizations that serve undocumented immigrants or transgender youth — which could affect borrowers at schools, public hospitals, and legal aid organizations.

The Education Department says the rule will be enforced neutrally. Democrats say it’s political. Either way, the resolution is unlikely to pass. But the lawsuits might matter more than Congress here — three federal lawsuits are challenging the rule, and summary judgment motions are pending in all three cases. A ruling could come before the July 1 effective date. If you’re pursuing PSLF at a nonprofit, this is worth watching.

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One more thing before I go.

Patrick Ball plays a doctor onThe Pitt, the HBO show. Three months into filming the first season, he paid off $80,000 in student loans. He toldCultured he teared up talking about it.

Before the show, Ball was earning about $700 a week. He was working three jobs, including a coffee shop in Brooklyn. He’d gone to Yale School of Drama, and the debt from that degree had followed him for years. At one point, he considered quitting acting to join the Merchant Marine or move to Alaska to work at a fishing camp. His parents — his mom an ER nurse, his dad a paramedic — toldThe Hollywood Reporter that he should consider becoming an HVAC technician.

I’m sharing this because I talk to people every week who carry the same weight. Not $80,000 specifically — sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. But the weight is the same. The feeling that this is just going to be your life forever. That you made a decision at 22 and now you’re paying for it at 35, at 40, at 50.

Ball got a break most people won’t get. But here’s what I want you to take from his story: the debt was real, the fear was real, and even for someone who eventually made it — it almost broke him. If it feels heavy for you right now, it’s because it is heavy. You’re not imagining it.

If you want help thinking through what your options are — not what you’ve been told, but what fits your situation — you can book a call here: https://www.tateesq.com/book-a-call

I’m headed to Philadelphia next Tuesday. I have a court hearing for a family trapped in a joint spousal consolidation loan. Servicer incompetence, chaotic program changes, and decades of being ground down by this debt kept them from applying to separate their loan. Now we’re trying to reopen their bankruptcy case from the early 2010s to discharge the debt for undue hardship.

The math is staggering. They borrowed $60k. Paid back $75k. Still owe $360k. WTF.

She’s worked in public service for the past two decades. He’s worked here and there over the past three. Combined, they’ve never made more than $100k in any year. And yet, they’ve bought a home, raised a family, and sent their kids to college. The American dream — just with a nightmare darkening every step.