Bryan Steil, the House member for Wisconsin's 1st District, cast a deciding vote on May 22, 2025 for the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which created a new repayment plan for student loans, and on July 3, 2025 he voted for the final law, which ended Grad PLUS loans for new borrowers and capped what parents can borrow. In Wisconsin, the change adds $2,009 a year to the average payment of a borrower moved to the new plan.
In February and April 2025 Steil also cast deciding votes for the budget plan that told the House Education and Workforce Committee to cut at least $330 billion.
Bryan Steil's Votes on Student Loans
- Steil Voted to End Grad PLUS Loans, Cap Parent Loans and Raise Payments for Low-Income Borrowers in July 2025. On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil voted yes as the House passed the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act 218 to 214. Under the law, graduate students can no longer take out Graduate PLUS loans, and parents who borrow for a child's college are capped at $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per student. For new loans the law replaced income-driven repayment with the Repayment Assistance Plan, which TICAS found "will require payments from even those earning far below the poverty level," and New America found that under it "those with the lowest incomes will face higher monthly bills" than under the old system.
- Steil Cast a Deciding Vote for the House Bill That Created the New Repayment Plan, in May 2025. On May 22, 2025, Steil voted yes on the House version of H.R. 1, which passed 215 to 214 with one member voting present, so it would have failed without his vote. That bill created "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan" that the final law kept. The Center for American Progress found that borrowers moving from the SAVE plan to the new plan face an average increase of $2,163 a year nationally, and that the law's limits on graduate loans leave financing gaps for 13 percent of borrowers seeking master's degrees and 46 percent of those seeking professional degrees, pushing many toward "more expensive private loans."
- Steil Cast Deciding Votes for the Budget Plan That Told the Education Committee to Cut at Least $330 Billion, in 2025. On February 25, 2025, Steil voted for H.Con.Res. 14, the budget resolution, which passed 217 to 215, and on April 10, 2025 he voted for its final version, which passed 216 to 214; on each, a switch by him alone would have tied the vote, and a tie fails. It told the Committee on Education and Workforce to "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000" over ten years. The committee met that instruction with the law's student aid cuts: the Center for American Progress found the law "takes away about $300 billion in federal support" meant to ease the cost of college for low- and middle-income students.
What the Student Loan Changes Bryan Steil Voted For Mean for Wisconsin Borrowers
- Wisconsin borrowers moved off SAVE pay about $2,000 more a year. Wisconsin borrowers moved from the SAVE plan to the new Repayment Assistance Plan will pay $2,009 more a year on average, the Center for American Progress estimates; for Wisconsin borrowers with a bachelor's degree the increase is $2,435 a year.
- Wisconsin parents who borrow for college lose an income-based repayment option. Parent PLUS loans made on or after July 1, 2026 can no longer be repaid under the Income-Contingent Repayment plan, according to the Center for American Progress, so Wisconsin parents who borrow for a child's education lose a payment tied to what they earn; existing borrowers in that plan must leave it by July 1, 2028.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bryan Steil on Student debt
What is Bryan Steil's record on student debt under Trump?
Bryan Steil's votes decided the 2025 budget plan that told the House education committee to cut at least $330 billion and the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and he then voted for the final law. The law ended Grad PLUS loans for new borrowers, capped Parent PLUS loans and created a repayment plan that raises bills for the lowest-income borrowers. In Wisconsin, borrowers moved off the SAVE plan pay about $2,000 more a year on average.
Did Bryan Steil vote to end Grad PLUS loans?
Yes. Bryan Steil voted on July 3, 2025 for the law that ended Grad PLUS loans for new graduate borrowers from July 1, 2026. Most graduate students can now borrow $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total from the federal government, New America reported, and the Center for American Progress found the new limits leave many students turning to costlier private loans or cut off from borrowing altogether.
How many student loan borrowers are affected by the repayment changes Bryan Steil voted for?
Bryan Steil voted for the law that requires borrowers to leave the SAVE plan, and about 7 million borrowers remained in SAVE in June 2026, according to the Center for American Progress. About 60 percent of SAVE borrowers had at one point owed nothing because their incomes were below the plan's threshold, the same report found.
Last updated: 2026-10-26