U.S. student loan payments were scheduled to resume on May 1 after being halted since early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
FILE IMAGE - A study sits at a desk in a file image taken on June 14, 2021, in Boulder, Colorado. The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the, according to an administration official familiar with the White House's decision-making.
Borrowers will not be asked to make payments until after Aug. 31, and interest rates are expected to remain at 0% during that period.What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? "It is ruining lives and holding people back," she said in a statement last month. "Borrowers are struggling with rising costs, struggling to get their feet back under them after public health and economic crises, and struggling with a broken student loan system — and all this is felt especially hard by borrowers of color."
In March, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank warned that resuming loan payments could place a heavy burden on borrowers who faced financial hardship during the pandemic. It said the impact would be hardest on Black families, who are more likely to rely on student loans to pay for college.