The Department of Education revealed that 40% of student loan borrowers missed their first repayment date in October, including four million borrowers who were required to start paying back their loans for the first time.
Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said 60% of student loan borrowers whose payments were due in October made them by mid-November, but the 40% who did not would not face harsh punishments.
BIDEN WEIGHS MOVE TO THE LEFT IN 2024 AMID OUTCRY ON ISRAEL AND BORDER
“While most borrowers have already made their first payment, others will need more time. Some are confused or overwhelmed about their options,” Kvaal said in a blog post on Friday. ”We want to make sure borrowers know that our top priority is to support student loan borrowers as they return to repayment.”
The Biden administration has made an on-ramp to restart the payment plans, which had been stalled for three years because of hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by delaying the harshest punishments for not making a payment through next September. Those punishments include delinquency, default, and mandatory collections. The White House has also rolled out a “SAVE” debt forgiveness plan over the summer.
President Joe Biden also forgave just under $5 billion in student loans last week, which affected nearly 80,300 borrowers under the income-driven repayment forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
The Biden administration has forgiven a total of $132 billion in student loan debt for more than 3.6 million borrowers.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The billions in federal student loan relief comes even after the Supreme Court stopped Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in August, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student loan debt for eligible low- and middle-income borrowers.
“I’m proud that we were able to give borrowers like you the relief you earned,” Biden told borrowers in an email last month. “I promise you that as long as I am President, I will never stop fighting for hardworking American families, and will never stop working to make sure our democracy delivers for the American people.”
