'It's going to hurt': How a surging student-loan payment is reshaping a family's future

The Sprague family is determining the sacrifices they need to make to navigate higher student-loan payments.

Alyssa Pointer for BI Jodi and Paul Sprague raised their daughters with a guiding principle: understand the value of a dollar.

By elementary school, Evelyn and Olivia were learning about mortgages, car insurance, and basic accounting in the carpool lane.

Early one June morning, before Evelyn, 17, and Olivia, 19, left for their summer jobs, Jodi sat them down with news that threw the Spragues' carefully managed budget into question.

The student-loan payments the family had budgeted for since 2015 were surging from $404 to $1,014 monthly, starting in September.

Jodi Sprague and her daughter, Olivia, are both facing looming student-debt burdens.

Alyssa Pointer for BI She and Olivia began to cry.

Olivia was about to start her sophomore year at Georgia Southern University, and while her parents helped her pay for housing, that likely wouldn't be possible in the upcoming semester.

Her first thought when she learned of Jodi's payment increase: how would she afford her rent? The 150% increase comes from President Donald Trump's student-loan repayment overhaul , which took effect on July 1.

It eliminated the Biden-era SAVE repayment plan , which gave Jodi and millions of other borrowers affordable monthly payments.

The administration said its changes are intended to curb excessive borrowing, simplify a complex repayment system, and compel colleges to lower their tuition.

Over the past year, more than a thousand borrowers have told Business Insider that they're taking on extra work, postponing retirement, and worrying they'll default because of higher monthly bills.

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.

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