Virginians paying off college loans under SAVE are being forced out of that plan, and those who move into the Repayment Assistance Plan see their bills climb by about $2,722 a year on average, the Center for American Progress figures. That plan was born in the House bill that squeaked through on May 22, 2025, 215 to 214, with Rob Wittman's yes, and his July 3 vote went to the final law, which also shuts down Graduate PLUS lending and limits parent borrowing.
Twice in early 2025, in February and in April, Wittman's vote was decisive on the budget resolution that required $330 billion or more in savings from the Education and Workforce Committee.
Rob Wittman's Votes on Student Loans and College Aid
- Virginia Graduate Students and Borrowing Parents Lose Federal Loan Options Through Wittman's Final-Passage Vote. Wittman joined, on July 3, 2025, the 218 members who outvoted 214 to clear the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for the president. It abolishes Graduate PLUS borrowing, and parents financing a child's degree face a $20,000 annual ceiling and a $65,000 lifetime ceiling per student. New loans lose the old income-driven plans and get the Repayment Assistance Plan instead, a design that "will require payments from even those earning far below the poverty level," TICAS concluded; New America adds that "those with the lowest incomes will face higher monthly bills" than before.
- Borrowers Pay More Under a Repayment Plan Born in the House Bill That Needed Wittman's May 2025 Vote. Wittman voted yes as H.R. 1 first cleared the House, 215 to 214 with one member present, on May 22, 2025. It was that House bill that set up "the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan" carried into the final law. Moving from SAVE to the new plan adds $2,163 to a borrower's yearly payments nationally, the Center for American Progress found, and the new graduate caps leave financing holes for 13 percent of would-be master's students who borrow and 46 percent of professional-school borrowers, pushing many into "more expensive private loans."
- Students From Low- and Middle-Income Families Lose Aid After a Budget Plan Wittman's Votes Decided Set a $330 Billion Education Target. February 25, 2025 saw H.Con.Res. 14 adopted 217 to 215, and April 10 saw its final form adopted 216 to 214, Wittman voting aye both days; a lone change of heart by him would have produced a tie and a defeat. Among its orders was one to Education and Workforce: "reduce the deficit by not less than $330,000,000,000". In the Center for American Progress's tally, the student-aid package Wittman voted to enact on July 3 "takes away about $300 billion in federal support" that had helped students from low- and middle-income families pay tuition.
What Rob Wittman's Votes Mean for Virginia Student Loan Borrowers and Their Families
- A Virginia borrower moved off SAVE pays about $2,722 more each year. Virginia's figure is steeper than the nation's: $2,722 a year more, on average, for a borrower switched from SAVE into the Repayment Assistance Plan, against $2,163 nationally, per the Center for American Progress; for a family already repaying a loan, that is extra money gone from every year's budget.
- Virginia parents borrowing for a child's college lose a payment option tied to income. For Parent PLUS loans issued from July 1, 2026 onward, Income-Contingent Repayment is off the table, the Center for American Progress notes, leaving Virginia parents taking loans for a child's tuition without a bill that scales to their earnings; parents already enrolled in that plan have until July 1, 2028 to get out.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rob Wittman on Student debt
What is Rob Wittman's record on student debt under Trump?
Rob Wittman's decisive votes carried the 2025 budget resolution, which set a $330 billion savings target for the Education and Workforce Committee, and the May 2025 House bill, and he then voted for the final law, which shut Graduate PLUS to new borrowers, limited Parent PLUS and introduced a repayment plan that charges the poorest borrowers more. In Virginia, borrowers moving from SAVE into that plan face roughly $2,722 in added payments a year.
Did Rob Wittman's vote eliminate Grad PLUS loans for graduate students?
Yes. Rob Wittman's July 3, 2025 vote helped pass the law under which new graduate borrowers lost Grad PLUS starting in July 2026. New America reports that most graduate students are now limited to $20,500 a year and $100,000 over their studies in federal loans, and professional students to $50,000 a year and $200,000.
How many borrowers have to leave the SAVE plan because of the law Rob Wittman voted for?
Roughly 7 million borrowers remained in SAVE as of June 2026, by the Center for American Progress's count, and Rob Wittman's vote helped pass the law that forces them into a different plan. About 60 percent of SAVE enrollees had once earned too little to owe any monthly payment, the report notes.
Last updated: 2026-10-27