Student loan payments due in October after years-long pause

The Department of Education has locked in when student loan payments will restart after the three-year pause from COVID-19.

Interest on student loan payments will begin in September, and payments will resume in October, the department says on its website.

The update says payments are restarting again because Congress “recently passed a law preventing further extensions of the payment pause.”

The break in federal payments began under then-President Trump in early 2020. The law that prevented further extensions of it was included in the debt ceiling agreement between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

“We will notify borrowers well before payments restart,” the department said. The set date for restarting payment was first reported by Politico. 

Meanwhile, Biden’s student debt relief plan — which would eliminate up to $10,000 in debt for some borrowers and up to $20,000 for others — is still at the mercy of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. 

The Biden administration has said that if his loan forgiveness is struck down, many borrowers could be at risk of default when payments recommence. 

His willingness to negotiate on the payment pause as part of the debt limit deal garnered the anger of many student loan advocates and supporters. The Biden administration has not publicly discussed any possibility of a backup plan for if his forgiveness program is struck down.

One of his major campaign promises in 2020 was getting $10,000 of student loan relief to borrowers.