For those with paused federal student loan payments, there could be some changes sooner than later — you may have to start paying again.
President Biden extended the pause in November in a move the Department of Education (DOE) said was meant to “alleviate uncertainty” for borrowers amid legal challenges to the administration’s student debt forgiveness program, according to a Fox News article.
Past Moves
There were federal student loans available for borrowers in the past.
“Payments will resume 60 days after the department is permitted to implement the program or the litigation is resolved, which will allow the Supreme Court to resolve the case during its current term,” the DOE said in November.
“If the program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023, payments will resume 60 days after that.”
The DOE’s Federal Student Aid website had a similar notice on Friday, April 28, stating borrowers will receive notification before payments start again. The freeze on federal student loan payments, collection, and interest rates to 2020, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawsuits
Oral arguments for a pair of cases about the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan were given before the Supreme Court in late February. The cases are Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown.
The student loan relief program seeks to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients, both subject to income requirements. It was unveiled in August, various news sites report.
The Supreme Court’s term began at the beginning of October, with sessions usually running “until late June or early July,” according to its website.
When asked in early March about whether the administration would extend the federal student loan payment freeze while considering options if the Supreme Court sided with those challenging Biden’s debt forgiveness plan, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration’s plan was “what we laid out in August,” one she said will deliver for tens of millions of Americans, according to reports.
She also said she was “not going to get into hypotheticals.”
“We believe that we have a strong legal authority here,” Jean-Pierre added. “That’s why we took it to the Supreme Court. And you heard from the solicitor general. She made a very strong case for why the president’s program is important.”
Updating
The Federal Student Aid website said borrowers should “update your contact information in your profile on your loan service’s website and in your StudentAid.gov profile” and check on auto-debit enrollment. It also directed them to a page for help finding repayment strategies.
Borrowers will get a “billing statement or other notice” a minimum of three weeks before the payment deadline “once the payment pause ends,” according to the site.
Source: Fox News, other news outlets
