Donald Trump’s efforts to weaken, cap, and limit federal student loans—including Parent PLUS loans—pose a direct threat to middle-class families striving to access higher education. By capping or eliminating these federal programs, which traditionally provide more flexible repayment terms and lower interest rates, Trump’s policies effectively shift the burden of college costs back onto families who can least afford it. For many middle-class households, federal loans are often the only viable path to fund their children’s college education without plunging into unsustainable debt. Reducing access to these resources narrows educational opportunities, limiting social mobility and reinforcing a cycle where only the wealthy can afford higher education.

This policy direction contributes to the creation of a permanent underclass—an America where the middle and working classes are increasingly locked out of advancement. Without access to affordable student financing, fewer students from non-wealthy backgrounds can pursue degrees, which hinders their career prospects and earning potential. Over time, this stratifies society further, concentrating economic power among elites and cementing systemic inequality. Instead of leveling the playing field, Trump’s policies tilt it steeply in favor of the privileged few, undercutting the American ideal of upward mobility through education.

Meanwhile, these restrictions open the door for private lenders to step in—entities that often offer loans with higher interest rates, fewer borrower protections, and aggressive collection practices. Trump’s rollback of federal lending doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it creates a captive market for private student loan providers, who stand to profit handsomely. Many of these companies have lobbied heavily for such changes, and their political donations have flowed freely into Trump-aligned PACs and networks. In short, what appears on the surface to be fiscal restraint is, in reality, a redirection of public need into private profit, with the middle class paying the price.

This pattern is familiar to anyone who has followed Trump’s policies: when you follow the money, it almost always leads to self-enrichment—either for Trump himself or for his close allies and donors. Whether it’s tax cuts for billionaires, deregulation for polluters, or student loan rollbacks, the through line is clear. Trump’s agenda consistently favors those with financial and political clout, often under the guise of populism. By gutting support for federal student loans and empowering private lenders, he’s once again rigging the system to benefit a small group of insiders, reinforcing inequality while pretending to serve the American people.