President Trump has stated he will cancel and restrict student loan programs, but the actual scope of his authority depends critically on whether you’re talking about limiting existing programs versus eliminating them entirely. Trump’s executive orders can restrict access to programs Congress created—such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program—by changing eligibility criteria and agency rules. However, fully canceling or eliminating federal student loan programs themselves requires congressional action. The distinction matters enormously for borrowers: executive orders can change how programs operate and who qualifies, but they cannot appropriate the billions of dollars needed to actually forgive debt on a large scale, and they cannot repeal the laws Congress passed that created these programs.
To understand what Trump can and cannot do, you need to know that Congress controls the legal authority and the money. When Trump announced in March 2025 that he would restrict Public Service Loan Forgiveness—directing the Department of Education to exclude borrowers whose employers are found to have a “substantial illegal purpose”—that was within executive reach because Congress had already created PSLF through legislation and authorized the Secretary of Education to administer it. But when Trump’s administration has suggested closing the Department of Education or eliminating student loan forgiveness more broadly, that requires Congress to pass legislation to repeal the existing laws. Trump himself acknowledged in early 2025 that he would need congressional votes, including from Democrats, to actually close the Education Department.
Table of Contents
- What Can Trump Do by Executive Order vs. What Congress Must Approve
- The Legal Limits of Executive Power on Statutory Programs
- What Closing the Department of Education Would Actually Mean
- Which Programs Can Trump Modify Directly, and Which Cannot
- The Appropriations Problem: Money Still Requires Congress
- What Trump’s Student Loan Actions Mean for Current Borrowers
- The Path Forward: What Congress Might Actually Do
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Can Trump Do by Executive Order vs. What Congress Must Approve
trump can use executive authority to reshape how existing student loan programs operate. The Secretary of Education, under Trump’s direction, can change agency regulations, tighten eligibility requirements, alter forgiveness timelines, and modify how programs are administered—all without new legislation. The PSLF restrictions announced in 2025 exemplify this: the administration created new rules that deny forgiveness credit to borrowers working for organizations deemed to have “substantial illegal purpose,” which the administration broadly defines to include organizations that support undocumented immigrants or provide certain medical services. This happened entirely through executive action, without Congress voting.
What Trump cannot do without Congress is appropriate money or repeal the laws Congress passed. Federal student loan programs exist because Congress wrote statutes creating them. The Higher Education Act of 1965, which established Title IV student loans, can only be repealed by Congress passing new legislation. Similarly, if Trump wanted to allocate billions of dollars to actually cancel student debt—as opposed to just restricting access to forgiveness programs—Congress would need to appropriate that money. The government cannot spend money on something without congressional appropriation, regardless of what the president orders. This is a fundamental constitutional principle that even presidents with aggressive executive agendas must respect.
The Legal Limits of Executive Power on Statutory Programs
The repeated attempts to eliminate or radically reshape PSLF demonstrate why Congress is the ultimate constraint. PSLF exists because Congress passed legislation in 2007 establishing it. For more than a decade, various presidents have tried to reform or restrict the program, but none have succeeded in eliminating it entirely because doing so requires Congress to vote to repeal the statute. Trump’s administration has tried a different approach: instead of eliminating PSLF, they’ve narrowed who can access it through new rules about what types of employers qualify. This works because agency rule-making is within executive authority—the Secretary of Education can interpret and implement the law Congress wrote, but cannot simply ignore or repeal it.
A critical limitation is that Trump cannot use the HEROES Act to broadly cancel student debt the way the Biden administration attempted. The HEROES Act, passed by Congress in 2003, authorizes the Secretary of Education to “waive or modify” student loan requirements during wars, military operations, or national emergencies—but only to ensure borrowers aren’t placed in a worse position because of those events. It doesn’t authorize mass debt cancellation as a policy choice. When the Biden administration tried to cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower using this authority, courts stopped it because HEROES Act authority is narrowly tailored to emergencies, not broad policy goals. Trump’s legal team would face the same constraints if they tried to use HEROES Act authority to cancel debt.
What Closing the Department of Education Would Actually Mean
In 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the closure of the Department of Education, but he acknowledged immediately that this cannot happen without congressional approval. Closing an entire cabinet department requires legislation to repeal the laws that created it and established its functions. Congress created the Department of Education in 1979, and only Congress can abolish it. What Trump’s order does accomplish is signal the administration’s intent and direct agencies to begin preparing, but the actual dissolution requires Congress.
Even if Congress did vote to close the Education Department, the question of what happens to student loans becomes crucial. Federal student loans aren’t administered by the Department of Education alone—the Federal Student Aid office processes applications, servicers manage payments, and Treasury systems handle collections. Eliminating the department would require either transferring these functions to another agency (like Treasury) or having Congress pass new legislation restructuring the entire federal student loan system. Borrowers might see operational chaos during any transition, with payment processing delays and confusion about which agency handles their loans. Any actual restructuring of the federal student loan system would require Congress to pass legislation specifying how loans would be managed under a new system.
Which Programs Can Trump Modify Directly, and Which Cannot
Trump can directly restrict or modify several programs through executive authority. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is the clearest example: by directing the Education Department to create new rules about employer eligibility, Trump’s administration can effectively narrow who can access the program without congressional approval. Income-Driven Repayment plans, which allow borrowers to cap monthly payments based on income, can also be modified through regulation—the administration could change how income is calculated, alter the repayment percentage, or extend the forgiveness timeline, all through agency rule-making rather than legislation.
However, Trump cannot eliminate these programs entirely or fundamentally restructure how student loans work without Congress. If the goal is to completely abolish Public Service Loan Forgiveness—not just restrict it, but eliminate the program and the statutory authority behind it—that requires Congress to pass legislation repealing the 2007 law that created PSLF. If Trump wanted to change the interest rates on federal student loans, eliminate federal loan programs entirely, or shift student lending to the private market exclusively, all of that requires congressional action. The tradeoff is that executive action can reshape programs quickly and without legislative gridlock, but it cannot fundamentally alter the legal structure Congress created.
The Appropriations Problem: Money Still Requires Congress
Even if Trump had the legal authority to cancel student debt through executive order, he doesn’t have the power to spend the money. Canceling $100 billion in student loan debt, for example, would require Congress to appropriate that money. The President cannot tax anyone or spend government funds except for purposes Congress has explicitly authorized and appropriated money for. When the Biden administration attempted broad student debt cancellation, one of the central legal challenges was whether the administration could spend money for debt forgiveness without congressional appropriation.
This constraint creates a practical ceiling on what Trump can accomplish on student loans without Congress. He can restrict programs, change regulations, modify eligibility criteria, and redirect how existing programs operate—all without spending additional money. But he cannot fund large-scale debt forgiveness, restructure the student loan system fundamentally, or eliminate programs entirely. Any attempt to actually forgive billions in federal student loan debt without congressional appropriation would face immediate legal challenge, similar to what happened to Biden’s debt cancellation plan. Borrowers should understand that when politicians promise debt cancellation by executive order, the constitutional and legal limits mean the real power lies with Congress.
What Trump’s Student Loan Actions Mean for Current Borrowers
For borrowers currently in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Trump’s 2025 restrictions create immediate uncertainty. If you work for an organization the administration designates as having “substantial illegal purpose,” you could lose eligibility for forgiveness even after working toward the 10-year requirement. This means teachers, social workers, nonprofit employees, and public sector workers should review whether their employer might be targeted by the new rules. The administration’s broad definitions—including organizations that support undocumented immigrants or provide certain medical services—could affect thousands of nonprofits and public institutions.
For other borrowers, the main effect of Trump’s executive actions so far has been regulatory, not cancellation. Income-driven repayment plans remain available, and existing student loan obligations haven’t been forgiven. However, the administration’s push to close the Department of Education signals longer-term intent to reshape how federal student loans operate. If that effort moves forward with Congress, borrowers could see significant changes in loan servicing, interest rates, or repayment options. The timeline and scope of these changes depend entirely on whether Congress passes new legislation to support them.
The Path Forward: What Congress Might Actually Do
The Trump administration has signaled that it wants Congress to pass legislation fundamentally restructuring federal student loans. This could mean eliminating certain programs, shifting loan servicing to the private sector, or raising interest rates. Congress has the full authority to do any of this, but it’s a legislative process that requires getting bills through both the House and Senate and resolving inevitable disagreement. Recent congresses have been sharply divided on student loan policy, with Democrats generally supporting loan forgiveness and Republicans questioning whether federal student lending should exist at all.
If Congress does pass legislation under Trump’s administration, the most likely outcomes include restrictions on income-driven repayment, elimination or restriction of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and potentially increased interest rates or required fees for borrowers. None of this would happen through executive order alone. What we’re likely to see in the coming months and years is a combination of Trump’s agency rule-making on one hand and potential congressional legislation on the other. Understanding this distinction is crucial for borrowers: executive actions can change how programs work, but Congress ultimately controls whether the programs exist at all.
Conclusion
President Trump can restrict student loan programs and modify how they operate through executive orders and agency rule-making, as evidenced by the 2025 PSLF eligibility restrictions. However, fully canceling federal student loan programs, eliminating them entirely, or funding large-scale debt forgiveness all require congressional action. The Constitution limits presidential power on spending and taxation to what Congress explicitly authorizes, and only Congress can repeal the laws it has passed creating federal student loan programs.
For borrowers, the practical takeaway is to monitor both executive actions and congressional proposals. Executive actions from Trump’s administration can change your eligibility for programs and how forgiveness works, so you should review your loan type and employer status against new agency regulations. But the more fundamental changes—whether federal student lending continues to exist, what interest rates are, and how the entire system operates—will ultimately be decided by Congress, not the President. The next few years will test whether Trump’s administration can convince Congress to pass legislation reshaping federal student loans or whether legislative gridlock keeps the current system largely intact while executive actions reshape it at the margins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Trump cancel all federal student loans by executive order?
No. Trump can restrict who qualifies for forgiveness programs and modify how existing programs operate, but he cannot eliminate programs Congress created or appropriate money for mass debt forgiveness without congressional authorization. Only Congress can repeal the laws establishing these programs and appropriate funds for debt cancellation.
Does the HEROES Act give Trump authority to cancel student debt?
The HEROES Act authorizes limited modifications to student loan rules during national emergencies, but only to prevent borrowers from being harmed by the emergency—not for broad policy-based debt cancellation. Courts blocked Biden’s attempt to use HEROES Act authority for mass cancellation, and the same legal limits apply to Trump.
Which student loan programs can Trump restrict without Congress?
Trump can modify Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility, change how income-driven repayment plans are calculated, and alter agency regulations governing federal student loans. Any program Congress created can be administered differently by the Secretary of Education under executive direction, but not eliminated.
Can Trump close the Department of Education?
Closing a cabinet department requires congressional legislation to repeal the law that created it. Trump can order the administration to prepare for closure, but Congress must vote to actually eliminate the department. Trump acknowledged in 2025 that he would need congressional votes to make this happen.
If Congress passes legislation, could it eliminate all federal student lending?
Yes. Congress created federal student loan programs and can repeal them through legislation. Congress could theoretically eliminate federal lending entirely, return student lending to the private market, or restructure the system completely. This would require passing bills through both chambers and resolving disputes among members with different views on student debt policy.
What happens to my loan if PSLF is eliminated?
If Congress repeals PSLF legislation, existing borrowers might be grandfathered under old rules, or Congress might create a transition period. However, new borrowers would no longer have access. Any major changes to existing programs would likely face legal challenges and require Congress to specify how existing obligations are treated. — Sources: – [What to know about Trump’s changes to student loan forgiveness rules | PBS News](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/what-to-know-about-trumps-changes-to-student-loan-forgiveness-rules) – [Trump orders denial of student loan relief for nonprofit workers engaged in ‘improper’ activity | PBS News](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-orders-denial-of-student-loan-relief-for-nonprofit-workers-engaged-in-improper-activity) – [Trump Seeking Changes to a Major Student Loan Relief Program | TIME](https://time.com/7301329/student-loans-forgiveness-pslf-trump-executive-order/) – [What Trump’s dismantling of the Education Department means for student loans | Axios](https://www.axios.com/2025/03/21/trump-student-loans-education-department) – [3 likely student loan changes as Trump looks to overhaul $1.6 trillion system | CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/student-loan-changes-likely-coming-under-trump.html) – [What Will Happen to Student Loans Under Trump? | TIME](https://time.com/7265794/what-will-happen-to-student-loans-if-department-of-education-closes/) – [Is Student Loan Forgiveness By Executive Order Legal? | The College Investor](https://thecollegeinvestor.com/35892/is-student-loan-forgiveness-by-executive-order-legal/) – [What are the limits of presidential power to forgive student loans? | University of South Carolina](https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2023/03/conversation_loans.php)