E-Paper
Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: How it impacts child tax credit and student loans | Explained
Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' passed Congress, altering child tax credits to $2,200 and limiting student loan repayment plans to two options.
President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' passed in the US Congress on Thursday as the House GOP managed to edge past the Democrats with 218 voting in favor to 214 against, including two GOP Congressmen who went against the party line. The bill, which is expected to significantly affect everyday Americans, has been sent to Trump to be signed into law before his self-imposed deadline of July 4.
Trump's tax and spending bill lays out certain cuts and breaks in federal assistance to Americans, while increasing security spending and introducing massive tax breaks. Two of the key areas that will see change under Trump's new bill are child tax credits and student loans.
Here's how these two areas are set to be affected:
Child Tax Credit
President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' increases the child tax credit for Americans from $2000 per child to $2200. The move, supposedly aligning with the "pro-life" stance of the Trump administration, has faced criticism from experts who have argued that the $200 increase is still too low as the amount was never revised to adjust for inflation since it was introduced in 2018.
Notably, the child tax credit was increased to $3000 per child ( and an additional $600 for younger children) during the pandemic. But that move was temporary, and the child tax credit was reverted to $2,000 once the pandemic normalized.
Also read: What's in Trump's ‘Big Beautiful’ bill that cleared Congress today
Student Loans
The Big Beautiful Bill makes a number of changes in the provisions for federal assistance to borrowing for education. First up, the bill has reduced the number of repayment plans that borrowers can opt for to just two: the Repayment Assistance Plan and the standard repayment plan.
However, the bill says that those who have already chosen a repayment plan under the previous option will be able to keep it, except for those under the SAVE plan. SAVE plan borrowers will have to opt for one of the new plans under the Big Beautiful Bill.
