Twice in the spring of 2025, on February 25 and April 10, Jeff Van Drew cast the vote that carried a budget plan that set the panel in charge of student aid a $330 billion savings target; on May 22 his yes passed the House text that first wrote in the Repayment Assistance Plan; and on July 3 he cast a yes for the final law, which, the Center for American Progress tallies, strips about $300 billion in federal college aid.
A New Jersey borrower forced from SAVE into that plan faces bills about $2,827 a year higher, a bigger jump than the U.S. average. Graduate PLUS lending is gone, and parent borrowing now has a ceiling.
Jeff Van Drew's Votes on Student Loans, From Budget Plan to Final Law
- Van Drew Voted for the July 2025 Law Ending Grad PLUS, Capping Parent Loans and Raising What the Poorest Borrowers Pay. July 3, 2025: the final H.R. 1 cleared the House 218 to 214, Jeff Van Drew voting yes. For graduate students that meant no more Graduate PLUS loans; for parents paying toward a son's or daughter's degree, a borrowing limit of $20,000 a year and $65,000 in all per student. New loans also move from income-driven repayment to the Repayment Assistance Plan, a plan that, the Institute for College Access and Success found, "will require payments from even those earning far below the poverty level," and under which, according to New America, "those with the lowest incomes will face higher monthly bills" than before.
- Van Drew's One-Vote Margin Put the New Repayment Plan in the House Bill, in May 2025. H.R. 1's House version won 215 to 214 on May 22, 2025, a member voting present; Van Drew's yes was the margin. Its student loan title established "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan" the final law kept. Nationally, a borrower switched from SAVE to it pays $2,163 more each year on average, Center for American Progress analysts found; under the new graduate limits, federal loans fall short for 13 percent of people borrowing toward a master's and for 46 percent of those headed to law, medical or other professional programs, nudging many toward "more expensive private loans."
- Van Drew Cast the Deciding Vote on Both Budget Resolutions That Demanded $330 Billion From Student Aid's Committee, in 2025. H.Con.Res. 14 drew 217 yes votes to 215 on February 25, 2025, and the Senate-amended text drew 216 to 214 on April 10, 2025, Van Drew voting yes both times; his switch alone would have forced a tie, and a tie loses. Education and Workforce, the committee over student aid, was told to "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000" over ten years. Van Drew's July 3, 2025 vote for the final law followed, and that law cut college aid by roughly $300 billion, the Center for American Progress tallied, aid that had made college cheaper for students from low- and middle-income families.
What Jeff Van Drew's Student Loan Votes Cost New Jersey Borrowers and Families
- Van Drew's votes add $2,827 a year to New Jersey SAVE borrowers' bills, above the national average. Shifting from SAVE to the Repayment Assistance Plan adds $2,827 a year to the average New Jersey borrower's payments, the Center for American Progress estimates, against $2,163 nationwide. Spread over twelve months, that is about $235 less each month for rent, child care or groceries in a household that already owes on its loans.
- New Jersey parents borrowing for college now hit a $65,000 lifetime cap. Under the law Van Drew voted for, New Jersey parents who borrow federal Parent PLUS loans for a child's degree are held to $20,000 a year and $65,000 per student. A family whose college bills run past those limits has to cover the gap from savings or with private loans, which the Center for American Progress notes are more expensive.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jeff Van Drew on Student debt
What is Jeff Van Drew's record on student debt under Trump?
In 2025 Jeff Van Drew's vote decided both budget resolutions, with their $330 billion order to the education committee, and the House's May passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; on July 3 he was a yes on the final law. That law ended Grad PLUS, limited Parent PLUS and created a repayment plan that raises the average New Jersey borrower's yearly payments by $2,827 for those leaving SAVE.
When did New Jersey borrowers have to leave SAVE, and what did the law Jeff Van Drew voted for put in its place?
Since July 1, 2026, after Republican attorneys general won a court challenge to SAVE, the Education Department has been telling SAVE borrowers to switch plans within 90 days, the Center for American Progress reports, and the law Jeff Van Drew voted for put the costlier Repayment Assistance Plan in SAVE's place. Borrowers keep access to the new plan and Income-Based Repayment, but two older income-driven plans, PAYE and ICR, close on July 1, 2028; in New Jersey, the move from SAVE to the new plan costs borrowers $2,827 a year on average.
What repayment options are left for new student loans because of Jeff Van Drew's vote?
Only two: under the law Jeff Van Drew voted for, anyone who borrows after July 1, 2026 can repay through the Repayment Assistance Plan or a new Tiered Standard Plan, the Center for American Progress explains, and parents borrowing Parent PLUS loans from that date get only the Tiered Standard Plan, with no income-based option at all.
Last updated: 2026-10-27