For new federal student loans, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act replaces the existing income-driven plans with a single Repayment Assistance Plan that asks something of even the lowest earners, ends Graduate PLUS loans and caps parent borrowing, and a Wisconsin borrower moved into it from SAVE pays $2,009 more a year, according to Center for American Progress estimates; Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin's 3rd District voted for that law on July 3, 2025, after his vote decided the House bill that created the plan.
In February and April 2025, Van Orden's deciding budget votes ordered the education committee to come up with at least $330 billion, and the law that followed cut about $300 billion of federal support for college by one think tank's count.
Derrick Van Orden's Votes on Federal Student Loans
- Grad PLUS Repeal, Parent Loan Limits and the Repayment Assistance Plan Load Costs Onto Low-Income Borrowers, Enacted With Van Orden's July 2025 Vote. Derrick Van Orden was among the 218 yeas as the House gave H.R. 1 final approval on July 3, 2025. The law closes Graduate PLUS to new graduate borrowers and puts annual and lifetime ceilings on what parents may borrow for a child's degree. New loans now get only the Repayment Assistance Plan or a tiered standard plan, and TICAS says RAP "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 before.
- The Repayment Plan in the Law Van Orden Voted For Raises Payments $2,163 a Year for Borrowers Leaving SAVE; His One-Vote House Margin in May 2025 Passed the Bill That First Set It Up. On May 22, 2025, Van Orden's yes was one the House version of H.R. 1 needed, as it passed 215 to 214. That bill set up "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan" that survived into the final law. Under the law as enacted, borrowers moving from SAVE into that plan pay an average of $2,163 more each year nationwide, according to the Center for American Progress.
- Van Orden's Deciding Budget Votes in 2025 Handed the Education Committee a $330 Billion Savings Instruction, and the Law's Student Aid Cuts Followed. Both House votes on H.Con.Res. 14 were decided by Van Orden: the February 25, 2025 adoption, 217 to 215, and the April 10, 2025 concurrence in the Senate's version, 216 to 214; either switch would have tied, and a tie fails. The resolution ordered the Committee on Education and Workforce to "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000" over ten years. The law's student aid cuts followed: the Center for American Progress found it "takes away about $300 billion in federal support" that had eased college costs for low- and middle-income students.
What Derrick Van Orden's Student Loan Votes Cost Wisconsin Borrowers and Families
- Wisconsin borrowers shifted off SAVE face payments $2,009 a year higher, and $2,435 with a bachelor's degree. By the Center for American Progress's estimate, a Wisconsin borrower pushed out of SAVE and into the Repayment Assistance Plan loses $2,009 a year on average to higher payments, and the figure climbs to $2,435 for those holding a bachelor's degree.
- Parent PLUS loans made from July 2026 leave Wisconsin parents without an income-based repayment option. From July 1, 2026, new Parent PLUS loans are shut out of income-contingent repayment, until now the one way such parents could tie payments to what they earn, the Center for American Progress explains; a Wisconsin parent who borrows for a child's tuition this school year is left with a tiered standard plan whose length depends on how much was borrowed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Derrick Van Orden on Student debt
What is Derrick Van Orden's record on student debt under Trump?
On May 22, 2025, Derrick Van Orden supplied a deciding yes for the House bill that introduced the Repayment Assistance Plan; that July he voted for the final law, which also closed Graduate PLUS and limited parent loans. A Wisconsin borrower moved off SAVE is estimated to owe $2,009 more each year. Van Orden's deciding budget votes in 2025 set the $330 billion savings target for the education committee, and the law's student aid cuts followed.
Can a graduate student in western Wisconsin still get a Grad PLUS loan after Derrick Van Orden's vote?
No. The law Derrick Van Orden voted for ends Graduate PLUS loans for new borrowers, and the Center for American Progress found that the new graduate limits "create financing gaps for 13 percent of master's degree borrowers and 46 percent of professional degree borrowers," many of whom will turn to "more expensive private loans."
What limit does the law Derrick Van Orden voted for put on a western Wisconsin parent borrowing for college?
Derrick Van Orden voted for a law that stops Parent PLUS borrowing at $20,000 a year per student, with a $65,000 lifetime ceiling per student, so a family whose college bill runs past those caps has to find the rest elsewhere.
Last updated: 2026-10-27