American has been paying $94 per month for her student loans She just had to do her income-driven recertification Her new required payment increased from $94 per month to $934 a month “I'm not paying them, like what the f*ck” Student loans are a scam and textbook predatory lending This situation is very common right now in 2026 to see 10x jumps in payments. Thousands of borrowers are experiencing during IDR recertification Recertification was delayed for years
Due to COVID pauses, legal battles over the SAVE plan that was blocked in courts and later terminated and processing backlogs at the Department of Education Many people hadn’t had their income officially re-evaluated since 2020–2022. The system finally began forcing recertifications in 2026 It pulled your most recent higher income for everyone who has to re-certify. Even if your income only rose modestly since 2017-2020, that multi-year gap makes the new payment jump feel massive Student loans are a scam, because of interest it takes people a lifetime to pay them back