$1,982: that is how much more per year, on average, an Ohio borrower pays after being moved from SAVE to the new Repayment Assistance Plan, by the Center for American Progress's estimate, and the plan was first written into the House bill that passed by one vote, with Mike Turner's yes, on May 22, 2025.
The final law, with Turner's July 3, 2025 yes, closed Grad PLUS to new borrowers and capped Parent PLUS. Months before, his votes in February and April 2025 had each been the margin for a budget resolution demanding at least $330 billion from the education committee.
Mike Turner's Votes on Student Loans
- A $1,982 Yearly Increase for Ohio Borrowers Traces to the Repayment Plan Turner's Deciding May 2025 Vote First Wrote In. It was H.R. 1's House version that first wrote in "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan," which the final law retained, and that version cleared the chamber by a single vote, 215 to 214, on May 22, 2025, Turner among the ayes. Across the country, a borrower pushed from SAVE into the plan owes an average of $2,163 more annually, CAP calculates. Its new graduate caps, CAP found, "will create financing gaps for 13 percent of master’s degree borrowers and 46 percent of professional degree borrowers," sending many of them to "more expensive private loans."
- Grad PLUS Ends and Parent Loans Are Capped Under the Final Law Turner Voted For in July 2025. Turner voted aye on July 3, 2025, when final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act carried 218 to 214. For graduate students, Graduate PLUS lending is gone; for parents, federal borrowing toward a child's degree now tops out at $20,000 per year and $65,000 overall for each student. New loans are repaid through a fixed standard plan or the Repayment Assistance Plan, which "will require payments from even those earning far below the poverty level," according to TICAS, while New America concluded that "those with the lowest incomes will face higher monthly bills" than they would have before.
- Turner's Deciding Budget Votes Set a $330 Billion Education-Committee Target, and the Law He Voted For Takes $300 Billion From College Aid. Each of the two House votes on H.Con.Res. 14 in 2025 turned on a two-vote edge, 217 to 215 on February 25 and 216 to 214 on April 10, and Turner was in the majority both times, so his defection alone would have produced a losing tie. Education and Workforce, under the resolution, had to "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000" over ten years. Passed with Turner's July 3, 2025 vote, the final law "takes away about $300 billion in federal support" that had helped low- and middle-income students pay for college, by CAP's analysis.
What Mike Turner's Student Loan Votes Cost Ohio Borrowers and Parents
- Ohio borrowers leaving SAVE face payments $1,982 a year higher. CAP's state breakdown puts the average added cost for an Ohio borrower moved from SAVE to the Repayment Assistance Plan at $1,982 a year, about $165 a month that comes out of rent, child care or savings for a household already carrying student debt.
- Ohio parents who borrow for college after July 1, 2026 lose the income-based repayment option. For Ohio families paying for a child's degree, "Parent PLUS loans that originated on or after July 1, 2026, will no longer be eligible for the ICR pathway," CAP notes, so a parent whose income drops has no payment tied to earnings, and new parent borrowing is held to $20,000 a year per student, leaving some families to private lenders.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mike Turner on Student debt
What is Mike Turner's record on student debt under Trump?
Mike Turner's vote decided the May 2025 House passage of the Repayment Assistance Plan's original bill, and two months later he voted for the final law that shut down Grad PLUS and put caps on Parent PLUS. For an Ohio borrower coming off SAVE, the new plan costs $1,982 more a year on average, and Turner's February and April 2025 votes each decided the budget resolution ordering $330 billion in savings from the education committee.
Can Ohio graduate students still get Grad PLUS loans after Mike Turner's vote?
Not new ones, because the law Mike Turner voted for abolished Graduate PLUS lending. New America reports the typical graduate student may now borrow up to $20,500 annually from Washington, with a $100,000 lifetime ceiling, and CAP expects many to cover the rest with costlier private loans.
How many borrowers are being moved off SAVE under the law Mike Turner voted for?
Roughly 7 million people were in SAVE as of June 2026, CAP reports, and under the law Mike Turner voted for they all must leave it; from July 1, 2026, the Education Department told SAVE enrollees to pick another plan within 90 days. CAP adds that at one time about 60 percent of SAVE borrowers earned too little to owe any monthly payment.
Last updated: 2026-10-27