SoFi Ready To 'Capture The Opportunity' As Trump's 'Big, Beautiful' Plan Restricts Federal Student Loans

Zinger Key Points

President Donald Trump recently signed new legislation that introduces major changes to federal student loan programs. SoFi Technologies, Inc. SOFI and other private student lenders are poised to benefit from these changes. 

What To Know: Under the new regulations, graduate students are now limited to $100,000 in total federal loans, and professional/medical students to $200,000. Parent PLUS loans are capped at $65,000 per student, down from previous rules that allowed borrowing up to the full cost of attendance.

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With federal borrowing caps in place, many students may not be able to cover their full educational costs with federal loans alone. The gap is expected to push more borrowers to seek private loans from companies like SoFi.

"Given borrowing limits, many students, particularly those attending higher-cost grad programs or professional schools who profile as SoFi's key target customer, may be unable to finance their education costs with just federal loans, forcing many to private lenders," Tim Switzer, a vice president at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, told Bloomberg in an email.

SoFi's CEO Anthony Noto told analysts and investors on a conference call earlier this year that SoFi would "absolutely capture that opportunity" if federal student loan restrictions were imposed. 

What Else: Trump's spending plan will also phase out most income-driven repayment, leaving only a standard repayment plan and a new Repayment Assistance Plan. The changes may result in higher monthly payments for many borrowers. 

As federal repayment plans become less attractive and monthly payments potentially increase, more borrowers may look to refinance their student debt through private lenders to secure better terms or lower payments.

"Refinancing demand should also accelerate with the resumption of debt collection and higher payments," said Devin Ryan, head of fintech research at Citizens Financial Group, per Bloomberg. 

"SoFi has terrific market share in student lending, and, with a number of lenders pulling back in recent years, we expect the firm to be a primary beneficiary of increasing demand."

Stock Price Action: SoFi Technologies shares were up 3.34% at $19.21 heading into Monday's closing bell, according to Benzinga Pro

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