Luke Helton realized too late that he rushed into law school.
After taking out $80,000 in student loans for undergrad at the University of Tennessee, he thought going straight for his J.D. would propel him into a stable career. So he borrowed more to make that happen.
Personal life challenges derailed his final year, and he failed the bar exam. By the time he realized that law might not have been the best path for him, his student loan balance had grown to $119,000 — plus another $103,000 his stepdad took out on his behalf, but that he is paying for.
Helton, 33, now works three jobs: a 9-to-5 in IT, part-time at Best Buy, and DoorDash on the side. He earns $60,000 a year from his full-time job, and around $6,000 a year from the highly unpredictable gig work.
“Between rent and monthly bills that I have to pay, I have a little over $500 left over for gas, groceries, whatever else,” Helton said.
His budget is about to get even tighter. Under President Donald Trump’s student-loan overhaul, Helton’s monthly payment is set to increase from $0 on a Biden-era repayment plan to over $600.
He can’t cover it. Instead, Helton said he’s weighing options like raiding his 401(k) or filing for bankruptcy, a last resort.
Over the past year, Business Insider has heard from more than 1,000 student-loan borrowers who are rethinking retirement, postponing homeownership or children, and considering extra jobs to fit a higher payment into their monthly budget. Borrowers who fail to make timely payments risk default, which can lead to wage garnishment and the seizure of federal benefits like Social Security.
The Trump administration has said that its goal with the repayment overhaul is to simplify a complex system, prevent excessive borrowing, and compel colleges to lower their tuition.
“I’m not saying that I should never have to pay anything. I did take out that money,” Helton said. “But it scares me, not just for me, but for many people who are in this situation.”
This story is part of Business Insider’s “student debt spiral” series, which explores how rising student debt is changing the financial futures of millions. Do you have a story to share? Fill out this form, and we’ll be in touch. Read more of our student-loan coverage here:
A pressure to take out student loans
Jessica Tezak for BI
Helton said he regrets rushing through his education, as he wasn’t able to fully consider the financial implications of student debt.
“For a lot of people, it’s like, you graduate high school, and then you go to college. That’s just how it goes,” Helton said. He said he could have benefited from entering the workforce after high school to earn money before pursuing higher education. “I really didn’t have a conception of how much money the student loans truly were and what that would look like down the line,” he said.
If he hadn’t felt the pressure to go straight into college, Helton said he “would’ve had a better idea of what I wanted to do for my career, too.”
As younger adults have begun to question the value of a college degree, high schools have increasingly deemphasized college as the only path to success, citing its high cost. Lawmakers across the aisle have also begun pushing for more workforce, community college, and trade school opportunities for the next generation.
Helton said, given that many jobs still require college degrees, “there’s a very real economic pressure to go to college.” The New York Federal Reserve said in an April 2025 blog post that the median worker with a college degree earned about $80,000 annually, compared to $47,000 for a worker with a high school diploma.
“I’m not saying forgive student debt for everybody, but nobody should have to feel that because they went to college, they’re going to be paying on this for the rest of their lives,” Helton said.
Student-loan policy regrets
Helton voted for Trump because he believed in his campaign promises to put America first and protect Social Security and Medicare. Now that he’s dealing with higher student-loan payments, he’s not sure he stands by that vote.
“We got a lot of promises. That’s why I voted for him,” Helton said. He added that he thought the administration would prioritize affordability, but he doesn’t feel that has been the case, citing his experience with student loans. “They talked a big game about caring about the little people, and they just haven’t.”
Jessica Tezak for BI
Business Insider previously spoke to another borrower, Christine LaRocco, who expressed a similar sentiment. The 66-year-old voted for Trump and said she felt financially better off during his first term, but as she grapples with higher monthly student-loan payments, she said the administration “is kind of blind to student loans right now.”
Trump’s undersecretary of education, Nicholas Kent, said in a statement that the policy changes are intended to simplify a complex repayment system and “prevent borrowers from taking on unmanageable debt levels that they may never be able to repay.” The Department of Education recommends that borrowers look into the new Repayment Assistance Plan, which became available July 1 and calculates a borrower’s payment based on 1-10% of their adjusted gross income. It also waives unpaid monthly interest.
A department spokesperson confirmed that more than 1 million borrowers have so far voluntarily left the Biden-era SAVE plan, which allowed for lower monthly payments, after Trump announced a settlement eliminating it, and that 30% of those borrowers have moved into RAP.
Helton said he has requested a financial hardship forbearance from his loan servicer, which he hopes will buy him some time to figure out how to make his new monthly payments. Digging into his retirement savings is his best bet.
“I’m not living large. I’m doing what I can to make it work,” Helton said. “It’s disheartening, to say the least.”
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