Hey John, 

We wanted to make sure you got the info on some of the latest updates that probably impact your student loans or the loans of someone you know!

TL;DR: the payment pause for federal loans will continue through September 30, 2021, and there’s no news on broad-based debt-free college, debt cancellation, or other relief yet.

This info comes from our Higher Ed, Not Debt partners at the National Consumer Law Center.

You can also scroll to the bottom of this email ⬇️ ⬇️ FOR AN URGENT ACTION ITEM!

• What’s covered: the payment pause will continue to apply only to federal student loans that are currently owned by the Department of Education. This includes 0% interest rate for federal loans. Commercially-held Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and school-held Perkins Loans are not getting relief on those loans. (Find more info in the post to figure out if your loans are federal.)
• Time in suspension counts toward IDR (income-driven repayment) and PSLF (public service loan forgiveness). Note: if your servicer is currently not allowing you to enroll in IDR, please fill out this form from our partners at NCLC.
• For federal loans that are in default, no collection activities should occur through at least September 30, 2021. This means there should be no collection calls, no wage garnishment, and no money taken out of borrowers’ tax refunds or Social Security benefits to collect on defaulted covered loans.
• For borrowers who enter into a rehabilitation agreement to get their covered loans out of default, the suspended payments will count toward the required nine payments needed to rehabilitate a loan.

See the NCLC blog post for more info and suggested actions borrowers can take right now, including info on how to get out of default.

The payment pause still leaves millions of borrowers without relief, and does nothing to lower balances. Almost a year into the pandemic, Americans are struggling to make ends meet more than ever before.

College students will be graduating into a market where it will be nearly impossible to get a job. In the last year hundreds of thousands of women, largely women of color, have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The economic fallout has deepened the racial wealth gap and economic inequity. Black borrowers continue to be disproportionately harmed by student debt without real relief.

That’s why we’re continuing to demand our leaders create a plan for debt-free college and to cancel student debt.

Spread the word by forwarding this update to friends with student debt.
 

Your fellow borrower,
 

Ella Azoulay
Program Coordinator
Generation Progress