Borrowers to Resume Student Loan Payments October 1 

As part of the recent bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, the current student loan payment pause will expire at the end of September. After more than three years of forbearance, borrowers will resume making their monthly federal loan payments, albeit in a very different economic climate than before. In addition to a wildly different labor market, the whole student loan landscape has changed following the departure of major players in the industry, billions of dollars forgiven through executive order, a raft of rule changes that change how payments are counted, and more. 

Preparing for a New Payment Routine

If you’re one of millions of people whose loans were serviced by FedLoan, Granite State, or Navient, you have a new loan servicer. (If you’re pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, your servicer is MOHELA.) You were probably prompted to create a new account with them months ago, when your account was transferred over, but it’s probably a good idea to check in now and make sure that your information is up-to-date and accurate. Further, you can double-check that you’re enrolled for auto-debit, which will pay your student loan on the due date through an automated bank draft, ensuring you get off to a timely start.  

Navigating New Student Loan Programs & Rules

There have been a plethora of changes to the federal student student loan system since the start of the emergency forbearance back in March of 2020. Besides the changes in servicers—and $10k-20k loan forgiveness, which has gotten all the press!—there have been a variety of policies borrowers may need to ponder, such as: the one-time Limited Waiver Opportunity of 2022, the upcoming IDR Account Adjustment, proposed changes to REPAYE, and further changes to income-driven repayment in general. Even though borrowers haven’t been making payments for the last 3+ years, the Biden Administration has been taking significant steps to improve the federal student loan repayment system. But that doesn’t mean it still won’t take some effort for borrowers to get up to speed and back in the groove. If you’re unsure how any of these changes impact your loans or repayment strategy, you may want to give your student loan experts a call before payments are due in October!