President Extends Pause in Student Loan Repayments for the 8th Time

President Extends Pause in Student Loan Repayments for the 8th Time

11.23.2022

By Hilary Jochmans

The White House on Tuesday announced it plans to extend until as late as June a pandemic-era pause in student loan repayments. Payments now set to resume Jan. 1 won’t be required again until June 30 or until 60 days after legal challenges to President Biden’s plan for loan forgiveness are settled by the courts.  This is the 8th pause since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 40 million Americans, mostly people under 35, have student loan debt. COVID-19 has exacerbated the financial challenges these borrowers face. While Congress did provide relief,  the New York State Bar Association is lobbying for more help for student borrowers, one of the association’s legislative priorities. The association believes the help should include expanding the program to private loans and providing monetary relief in cases of economic hardship.

Biden came into office almost two years on a campaign promise to address student loan debt.  He extended the moratorium on federal student loan payments that Congress had instituted as part of an early COVID aid package.  But many in Congress and some civic groups called for the president to go further and cancel all or part of student loan debt.

In August, Biden announced many federal student loan borrowers would be eligible for some loan forgiveness.