10 Universities in Republican Swing Districts that Could Face Severe Financial Strain if PLUS Loans Were Repealed

One of the big proposals in the Republican budget reconciliation bill of 2025 to reform higher ed is to eliminate PLUS loans. If this were to take effect, a number of universities would face severe financial distress, and some may even close.

PLUS loans take two forms, Grad PLUS, which students take out themselves to fund graduate study, and Parent PLUS, which parents take out to fund their children’s undergraduate education.

The College Scorecard has excellent data on Parent PLUS loans, as average Parent PLUS borrowing is available at the institutional level, and the data is very recent (from January 2025).

In this article, we look at which institutions in Republican swing districts would either face several financial consequences or even potentially close down if PLUS loan repeal was passed by Congress in 2025.

The political reality facing swing district Republicans who seek to repeal PLUS loans

Many Republican members of Congress might feel that there are many universities and colleges that should close down or be downsized. 

However, that belief runs into a difficult political reality. There are a number of universities and colleges that are highly exposed financially to Parent PLUS borrowing, and many of these institutions are located in swing districts, and they represent a large or very large economic and employer base in those swing districts.

Because Republicans, not Democrats, hold the power in 2025 in Washington, we looked at 29 Congressional seats that are rated Tossup, Lean Republican or Likely Republican by the Cook Political Report and that are also held by Republican members.

Of those 29 districts, we identified 10 districts with colleges or universities where the average Parent PLUS debt burden is at least 200% of the national average.

This suggests that those 10 institutions would either face the difficult reality of large layoffs if they lost access to PLUS loans. Small schools with more limited financial support and smaller alumni networks might even close.

The 10 colleges in Republican swing districts most exposed to Parent PLUS repeal

Here’s the list of the Republican-held swing districts below, along with the institution most exposed to PLUS loan repeal that’s located in their district. Note: We sourced the partisan lean from Cook Partisan voting index (Cook PVI(℠)). 

For reference, the average Parent PLUS debt, according to the College Scorecard as of 2025, is $16,220.53.

We represent each institution’s median Parent PLUS debt as a percentage of that national average to show how exposed each institution is to the Parent PLUS loan program.

1. Chapman University – CA-40 (Representative Young Kim, R+2)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Chapman: $41,575
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Chapman as % of National Average: 256%

2. Drake University – IA-03 (Representative Zach Nunn, R+3)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Drake: $32,406
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Drake as % of National Average: 200%

3. University of Scranton – PA-08 (Representative Rob Bresnahan, R+4)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Scranton: $41,794
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Scranton as % of National Average: 258%

4. Michigan State University – MI-07 (Representative Tom Barrett, R+2)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Michigan State: $37,703
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Michigan State as % of National Average:  232%

5. Creighton University – NE-02 (Representative Don Bacon, EVEN)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Creighton: $39,968
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Creighton as % of National Average:  246%

6. Lehigh University – PA-07 (Representative Ryan Mackenzie, R+2)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Lehigh: $43,365
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Lehigh as % of National Average:  267%

7. Dickinson College – PA-10 (Representative Scott Perry, R+5)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Dickinson: $32,798
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Dickinson as % of National Average:  202%

8. Eckerd College – FL-13 (Representative Anna Paulina Luna, R+6)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Eckerd:  $40,818
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Eckerd as % of National Average:  252%

9. Hope College – MI-04 (Representative Bill Huizenga, R+5)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Hope: $36,940
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Hope as % of National Average:  228%

10. Delaware Valley University – PA-01 (Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, EVEN)

• Median Parent PLUS Debt at Delaware Valley: $32,493
• Median Parent PLUS Balance at Delaware Valley as % of National Average:  200% 

Impact on local communities in swing districts from repealing Parent PLUS

Here’s a list of locations for these institutions above:

1. Chapman University – Orange, California 
2. Drake University – Des Moines, Iowa 
3. University of Scranton – Scranton, Pennsylvania 
4. Michigan State University – East Lansing, Michigan 
5. Creighton University – Omaha, Nebraska 
6. Lehigh University – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 
7. Dickinson College – Carlisle, Pennsylvania 
8. Eckerd College – St. Petersburg, Florida 
9. Hope College – Holland, Michigan 
10. Delaware Valley University – Doylestown, Pennsylvania

At the risk of stating the obvious, four of these towns are in Pennsylvania, and two are in Michigan. 

At least half of the towns are smaller communities that would be devastated economically if one of the colleges above shut down.

Could private loans fill the gap?

Private student loans are an option for many families who either don't fill out the FAFSA in time or who want lower interest rate costs than those available on PLUS loans.

The problem with private student loans is they often carry very high interest charges, and they usually require a parental borrower as a cosigner.

Parent PLUS loans also require a parent, but private student loans require that parent to have much stronger finances to qualify.

Schools that rely disproportionately on Parent PLUS loans often have higher costs than other institutions.

Those institutions like the ones mentioned above would face a choice in the absence of Parent PLUS loans.

Go after students from richer families to fill the gap to make up for lost revenue, face financial distress or cut back significantly on programs.

And if they weren't able to take any of those actions, especially the smaller private schools may or may not be able to continue to exist.

Larger schools like Michigan State that have a high average Parent PLUS balance often show up in lists like this due to how many students are admitted from out of state, which the schools use to earn a higher profit margin.

How exposed are these swing district universities to Parent PLUS going away?

According to College Scorecard data from the Urban Institute, the average Parent PLUS usage rate for students' families is in the single-digit percentile (i.e., less than 10% of borrowers' families use them).

At the schools listed above, here's the estimated range of Parent PLUS usage as a percent of overall student enrollment:

• Chapman University: 15% to 20% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Drake University: 10% to 20% Parent PLUS borrower share
• University of Scranton: 15% to 20% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Michigan State University: 5% to 15% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Creighton University: 5% to 10% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Lehigh University: 0% to 10% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Dickinson College: 5% to 10% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Eckerd College: 10% to 20% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Hope College: 5% to 15% Parent PLUS borrower share
• Delaware Valley University: 15% to 25% Parent PLUS borrower share

Some of the institutions above, such as Lehigh, Dickinson and Creighton, have numbers closer to the national average.

But other schools not only have average Parent PLUS balances 200% above national average or more, they also have Parent PLUS usage rates at 200% or more when compared to national averages.

Imagine a non-profit school that's mostly breaking even on revenue and expenses.

Many Parent PLUS borrowers don't have other financing options available. Usually, borrowers with strong credit and limited borrowing needs choose private loans because of the lower financing charges.

So, many Parent PLUS borrowers at these schools might not be able to afford to send their children to these institutions if they lose access to Parent PLUS.

Even though 10% to 20% of borrower families using Parent PLUS might not look like a lot, it probably constitutes far more than 10% to 20% of revenue for the school.

For example, athletes at the schools above likely pay reduced or no tuition.

If there are any in-state discounts provided, those students are likely to have less or no Parent PLUS balance, with the PLUS families subsidizing the other families.

In the end, the financial impact of losing PLUS loans would likely be much more than 10% to 20% of revenue.

Have schools closed before because of losing access to student loans?

Yes, but mostly only for-profit institutions.

For example, Corinthian Colleges lost access to federal student loans and closed down shortly after that in 2015.

However, very few non-profit schools have closed by comparison.

But this is primarily due to the reality that few non-profit schools have ever lost access to the current regime of unlimited student loan borrowing through the PLUS loan system.

Since 2006 for example, the number of pharmacy schools has more than tripled.

Many of these schools exist for one reason: because they can tap unlimited Grad PLUS loans for their students.

This issue is separate from Parent PLUS as it relates to Grad PLUS.

But the proposal we're talking about here to repeal PLUS loans would apply to both — Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS loans.

The point is that if schools lost access to these unlimited pools of capital, the weaker institutions with smaller endowment funds and lower entrance requirements would be the first to downsize or shut down.

So, there's no real comparison to be made historically for what would happen if PLUS loans were ended.

Universities have killed PLUS loan reform before

In presentations I've attended with Congressional staffers, they've admitted in public forums that the primary constituents that have stopped PLUS loan reform in the past are universities themselves.

During the later part of the Obama administration, during President Obama's second term, the White House tried to cap Parent PLUS borrowing. According to presentations I've heard at industry conferences, a diverse coalition of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and schools with big athletic departments and large populations of Parent PLUS borrowers, like the University of Alabama and the University of Notre Dame, lobbied to stop this reform because of the financial damage it would do to their institutions.

Will universities rally again to stop the elimination of major financial support to their operations? I would expect they will try in earnest.

How far will education reform go with a Republican budget reconciliation bill? 

The House GOP has only a two- or three-vote margin to pass its budget reconciliation bill.

The same is true for other proposals in that reconciliation bill, such as the proposal to eliminate the non-profit tax treatment of hospitals, which would effectively end PSLF for millions of healthcare workers if it passed.

So borrowers who are worried should know that we are a long way off from all of the proposals becoming law.

The initial proposals will have to survive the public limelight and pressure once the actual text is released and voters, interest groups, universities and others lobby their elected officials.

What’s clear, though, is that many Republican members in Congress in swing districts will face a challenging political decision of whether to vote for PLUS Loan repeal with the potential for a large negative economic impact on their local communities.