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Borrowers and industry urge automatic IDR enrollment, warn about new repayment design
Summary
Borrower advocates, service providers and employers told the Education Department that automatic enrollment in income‑driven repayment and stronger rehab protections could reduce re‑defaults, while borrowers warned proposed caps and payment calculations risked cutting graduate access and worsening workforce shortages.
Speakers at the Department of Education listening session urged policies to reduce delinquencies while protecting vulnerable borrowers.
Dan Macklin, president of Summer, urged automatic enrollment: “Whenever the department has verified income for borrowers who are struggling, it should auto enroll that borrower in the lowest payment IDR plan unless the borrower opts out,” he said, arguing automation reduces forms and charge‑offs. Macklin also recommended that rehabilitated loans automatically enter IDR to prevent immediate re‑default, and proposed a borrower‑consented data channel so employers and…
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