Leaving SAVE for the repayment plan created by the law John McGuire voted for on July 3, 2025 costs the typical Virginia borrower an extra $2,722 a year, in Center for American Progress figures, well above the $2,163 average across the country.
That plan first appeared in the House bill McGuire's May 2025 vote was needed to pass. The final law also abolished Graduate PLUS loans and capped what parents can borrow, after McGuire's votes decided the 2025 budget resolution, which gave the education committee a $330 billion savings target.
John McGuire's Votes on Student Loans
- Grad Students Lose PLUS Loans and Low-Income Borrowers Owe More Under the Law McGuire Voted For in July 2025. With John McGuire voting yes, the House approved H.R. 1's final text 218 to 214 on July 3, 2025. Graduate PLUS lending stops for new graduate students under it, and a parent's borrowing for each child is held to $20,000 per year with a $65,000 lifetime ceiling. New borrowers lose income-driven repayment and get the Repayment Assistance Plan instead, a plan that TICAS says "will require payments from even those earning far below the poverty level"; New America found that under it "those with the lowest incomes will face higher monthly bills" than they would have paid before.
- McGuire's Deciding House Vote in May 2025 Passed the Bill That Created the Repayment Assistance Plan. The May 22, 2025 House tally on H.R. 1 was 215 to 214, with one present, and McGuire's yes made the difference. His vote passed a bill that established "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan" the final law adopted. Under the final law, moving from the SAVE plan to the new one raises a borrower's payments by $2,163 a year on average across the country, per the Center for American Progress, while the new ceilings on graduate loans push many students toward "more expensive private loans."
- College Aid Shrinks by About $300 Billion Under the Law McGuire Voted For, After His Deciding Budget Votes in 2025. McGuire's votes for H.Con.Res. 14 on February 25, 2025 (217 to 215) and for its final form on April 10, 2025 (216 to 214) were each decisive: his switch alone would have tied the House, and a tie fails. The resolution told the Committee on Education and Workforce to "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000" over ten years. With McGuire's July 3, 2025 yes, the law cut student aid; the Center for American Progress says it "takes away about $300 billion in federal support" meant to make college affordable for students from low- and middle-income families.
What John McGuire's Student Loan Votes Mean for Virginia Borrowers
- Virginia borrowers moved off SAVE pay $2,722 more each year, above the national average. For Virginians shifted from SAVE onto the Repayment Assistance Plan, the average payment climbs $2,722 a year, against $2,163 for the nation, by the Center for American Progress's state breakdown; that money comes out of rent, car notes or savings for young workers and families.
Frequently Asked Questions About John McGuire on Student debt
What is John McGuire's record on student debt under Trump?
John McGuire provided the deciding margin for H.R. 1 in the House in May 2025 and voted for the final law that July, which ends Graduate PLUS loans, caps parent borrowing and puts new borrowers on a repayment plan that raises payments for borrowers moving from SAVE by $2,722 a year on average in Virginia. His February and April 2025 votes decided the budget resolution that set a savings target of at least $330 billion for the education committee, and the law takes away about $300 billion in student support, by the Center for American Progress's count.
Can Virginia graduate students still get federal loans after John McGuire's vote?
Graduate PLUS loans are gone for new borrowers under the law John McGuire voted for, leaving only capped federal loans of $20,500 a year for master's students and $50,000 a year for professional students, New America reports. Financing gaps open for 13 percent of people borrowing for a master's and 46 percent of those borrowing for professional degrees, the Center for American Progress calculated, and many will have to go to private lenders.
What changes for Virginia parents who borrow for college under John McGuire's law?
Under the law John McGuire voted for, parents can borrow no more than $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per student, and any Parent PLUS loan that originates from July 1, 2026 onward loses access to the income-contingent repayment option that was their only income-based backstop, the Center for American Progress notes. Parents with those loans are limited to a tiered standard plan with payments set by the size of the debt, not their income.
Last updated: 2026-10-27