President-elect Donald Trump has plans to address college affordability and student debt, though many details remain to be worked out. In an Oct. 13 speech in Columbus, Ohio, Trump outlined the basics of his views on student debt, tuition rates, administrative "bloat," income-based repayment and loan forgiveness.
"Students should not be asked to pay more on their loans than they can afford," Trump said. "The debt should not be an albatross around their necks for the rest of their lives."
Trump and the Republican Party didn't emphasize higher education in their campaign platforms, leaving experts puzzled as to what policies a Trump administration might pursue.
"We won't know what priorities, if any, the administration has until we see what staff is in and what ideas they put out there," says Matthew Chingos, senior fellow at the Washington think tank Urban Institute.
Some changes to the federal student loan system can be enacted by executive action, but others require congressional action. Here's what we may be able to expect:
1. Income-driven repayment changes are likely
Trump's proposal would also forgive student loan debt after 15 years of full payments -- five years earlier than the current REPAYE option -- though it isn't clear whether this applies only to income-driven repayment plans.
Jason Delisle, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says shortening the forgiveness timeline by five years could result in a net increase in the cost of the program for taxpayers.
2. Private banks -- not the government -- might issue federal student loans
Private banks used to issue federally backed student loans until 2010, when the federal government revamped the program and began originating all federal student loans through its Direct Loan program. The Obama administration cited billions of dollars in cost savings as a reason for the switch, and used the savings to offer more Pell Grants for low-income students. Today, most new student borrowing comes from federal direct loans, with private lenders servicing the government-issued loans.
3. Students' prospective future earnings could inform their 'loan worthiness'
For example, students pursuing majors with high post-college employment rates, such as engineering and health care, might be approved to take on more student debt than those studying liberal arts topics. Today, any student -- regardless of his or her planned major -- can borrow the same amount of federal student loans each year.
The idea that colleges should have "skin in the game" by taking responsibility for student outcomes has bipartisan support. For example, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., introduced a bill in 2015 that would require colleges that accept federal financial aid to share student loan risk with the Department of Education. Chingos says risk-sharing for institutions may also threaten the for-profit college industry, but it's unclear whether the Trump administration would be sympathetic to for-profit schools.
4. College costs could be reduced by limiting administrative 'bloat'
"We have a lot of power over the college, and they're not doing the job of cost cutting because they don't have the incentive cost to cut it because you're paying for it," he said in the speech.
Trump also said in his Ohio speech that he plans to reduce the "tremendous bloat" in college administration. By reducing unnecessary costs of compliance with federal regulations, he said, colleges would be able to pass the savings on to students in the form of lower tuition.
5. You could use federal financial aid to cover nontraditional education programs
Higher-education programs' accreditation "should be decoupled from federal financing," the Republican Party platform said. That may mean that students attending those nontraditional programs could be allowed to pay for the courses with federal financial aid. Currently, only students attending schools that are accredited through the Department of Education can qualify for federal financial aid.
After Trump's speech in Ohio, his campaign did not release a more comprehensive higher education plan on its website.
What college students and loan borrowers can do now
Borrowers with existing student loan debt have several options for managing it, including income-driven repayment plans, federal forgiveness programs and student loan refinancing.
A previous version of this article didn't state that some changes to the student loan system could be made by executive action. This article has been corrected.
Anna Helhoski, Brianna McGurran and Teddy Nykiel are staff writers at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email anna@nerdwallet.com or bmcgurran@nerdwallet.com or teddy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AnnaHelhoski or @briannamcscribe or @teddynykiel.
Updated Nov. 29, 2016.
This article was originally published on NerdWallet.