Student loan borrowers with outstanding balances will have their payments resume beginning next month as the COVID-19-era federal pause comes to an end.
The amount borrowers owe and the due date will be sent out 21 days before the payment is due, according to the Department of Education.
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Student loan payments have been paused since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in full force, and the pause has been extended numerous times by the Biden administration. Now that the pandemic has ended in the United States, payments will resume beginning in October. Interest on outstanding student loans already resumed on Sept. 1, 2023, after it had been paused since March 13, 2020.
If borrowers are unable to begin paying their loans off when payments resume in October, a “temporary on-ramp” will exist until Sept. 30, 2024, so that borrowers are not reported as being delinquent on their payments, according to the Education Department.
Loan plans eligible for this temporary solution include direct loans, Federal Family Education Loan Program loans held by the Education Department, Federal Perkins Loans held by the Education Department, defaulted Federal Family Education Loan Program loans not held by the Education Department, and defaulted Health Education Assistance loans, per the Department of Education.
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“Payments are still due, and interest will continue to accrue (add up). We will not report you as delinquent during the on-ramp, but we do not control how credit scoring companies factor in missed or delayed payments,” the Department of Education said.
Borrowers who graduated in the spring will not have to begin making payments until their grace period ends, which is usually six to nine months after graduating from college, in addition to the “on-ramp” from the DOE.
