She’s not the only SAVE borrower seeing interest accruing: Other people facing the same issue have taken to social media to try and get answers.

At one point, around 8 million people were enrolled in the SAVE plan, according to the Education Dept.

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Bruecker happens to work as the director of research at The Institute for College Access & Success, a nonprofit that does advocacy work in the higher education space. But she wonders how many student loan borrowers will even know that this wasn’t supposed to happen, let alone be able to get it corrected.

“Will they resolve this for everyone, or just those who get them on the phone and are loud about it?” she said.

But Mohela has a notice at the top of its website that reads: “If you recently received an interest notice for your student loan account, please know that this is not a bill, and no action is necessary at this time.”

The notice goes on to say that, “For borrowers on the SAVE administrative forbearance, interest is currently set at 0%. Refer to your loan details in your notice.”

The company does not say that the alerts were sent in error, but they likely were, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

“MOHELA sent out misleading notices to their borrowers who are in the SAVE repayment plan,” Kantrowitz said.

“Borrowers who are worried about the MOHELA letter should check their loan history to see if the balance has changed,” Kantrowitz added. If their debt has grown since July 2024, “they should contact MOHELA,” he said.

Bruecker said her loan records from both Mohela and the Education Dept. reflect a higher balance after roughly around $3,000 in interest was added to her debt during the forbearance.

“Mohela has been allowing interest to accrue the entire time my loans have been in this SAVE forbearance,” she said.

She tried to contact Mohela to correct the error, but said she was unable to reach a representative despite waiting on the phone for hours.

In recent months, the Trump administration has terminated around half of the Education Department’s staff, including many of the people who helped assist borrowers when they ran into issues like this one. A federal judge has ordered Trump officials to reinstate the terminated employees, but the administration is now asking the Supreme Court to block that order.

“With the level of dysfunction at the Education Department right now, I have a real distrust this is going to get resolved for people,” Bruecker said.

The U.S. job market isn’t looking too hot for recent college graduates and other job seekers, according to economists and labor experts.

“The job market is kind of trash right now,” said Mandi Woodruff-Santos, a career coach and personal finance expert.

“I mean, it’s really difficult,” she added. “It’s really difficult for people who have many years of experience, so it’s going to be difficult for college kids.”

The national unemployment rate in May was relatively low, at 4.2%. The layoff rate has also been historically low, suggesting employers are holding on to their workers.

Yet, hiring has been anemic. The pace of employer hiring in April was the lowest in more than 10 years, since August 2014, excluding the early months of the Covid pandemic.

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The rate at which workers are quitting — a barometer of worker confidence about their job prospects — has also plummeted to below pre-pandemic levels, a stark reversal from the “great resignation” in 2021 and 2022.

“It will be a tough summer for anyone looking for full-time work,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote in an e-mail Friday.

“This is an ‘abundance of caution economy’ where businesses are only filling critical positions and job seekers, especially recent graduates, are struggling to find employment,” she said.

Businesses added more jobs than expected in May, for example. But those gains have slowed significantly — a worrisome sign, economists said.

Employers appear reluctant to hire in an uncertain economy.

CEO confidence plummeted in the second quarter of 2025, seeing its largest quarterly decline on record dating to 1976, according to a survey by The Conference Board. Uncertainty around geopolitical instability, trade and tariff policy were the largest business risks, according to Roger Ferguson Jr., the group’s chair emeritus.

The share of CEOs expecting to expand their workforce fell slightly, to 28% in Q2 from 32% in Q1, and the share planning to cut their workforce rose 1 point, to 28%. 

“The steady erosion in the US job market cannot continue forever — at some point, there will just not be much left to give,” Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in an analysis Friday.

“In a low-hiring, slow-growth environment, employers can only hold onto their existing employees for so long before they too will have to be let go — increasing unemployment even as job opportunities continue to shrink,” Stahle wrote.

For many students and their families, federal student aid is key for college access.

And yet, the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 calls for significant cuts to higher education funding, including reducing the maximum federal Pell Grant award to $5,710 a year from $7,395, as well as scaling back the federal work-study program. The proposed cuts would help pay for the landmark tax and spending bill Republicans in the U.S. Congress hope to enact.

Roughly 40% of undergraduate students rely on Pell Grants, a type of federal aid available to low-income families who demonstrate financial need on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Work study funds, which are earned through part-time jobs, often help cover additional education expenses. 

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President Donald Trump‘s “skinny” budget request said changes to the Pell Grant program were necessary due to a looming shortfall, but top-ranking Democrats and college advocates say cuts could have been made elsewhere and students will pay the price.

“The money we invest in post-high school education isn’t charity — it helps Americans get good jobs, start businesses, and contribute to our economy,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told CNBC. “No kid’s education should be defunded to pay for giant tax giveaways for billionaires.”

Nearly 75% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“Historically the Pell Grant was viewed as the foundation for financial support for low-income students,” said Lesley Turner, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. “It’s the first dollar, regardless of other types of aid you have access to.”

Under Trump’s proposal, the maximum Pell Grant for the 2026-2027 academic year would be at its lowest level in more than a decade.

“The Pell reduction would impact the lowest-income families,” said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.

More than 92% of Pell Grant recipients in 2019-2020 came from families with household incomes below $60,000, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

The Congressional Budget Office projected a shortfall this year in part because more students now qualify for a Pell Grant due to changes to the financial aid application, and, as a result, more students are enrolling in college.