Biden Extending the Pause on Student Loan Repayment an Additional 90 Days

The Biden administration has extended the pause on federal student loan payments through May 1, 2022.

The 0% interest and $0 payment relief was set to expire January 31st for an estimated 41 million Americans with federal loans. The extension comes less than two weeks after White House press secretary had indicated that the administration was still planning to restart federal student loan payments in February.

The Biden administration received pressure from other Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

“Extending the pause will help millions of Americans make ends meet, especially as we overcome the Omicron variant,” Schumer, Warren and Pressley said in a statement.

Here is what Biden said in a White House Statement: “We know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments”

To see a breakdown of your federal options as a student loan borrower, sign up for Snowball to see additional resources here.

What you need to know:

• Federal student loan relief has been extended through May 1, 2022.
• This applies to federal student loans (not private loans)
• No student loan payments and 0% interest continue through May 1, 2022.
• Non-payments will continue to count toward the number of payments required under an income-driven repayment plan, a loan rehabilitation agreement, or the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
• Paused wage garnishments for borrowers with defaulted federal student loans
• Those who want to make payments can still do so

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/12/22/statement-by-president-joe-biden-extending-the-pause-on-student-loan-repayment-an-additional-90-days/