Will the student loan forbearance be extended past Aug. 31?
With the federal student load moratorium now over two years old, there are very few clear cut answers about what the endgame is
Over 44 million student loan borrowers are now less than 45 days away from… what? President Joe Biden has recently sent conflicting messages about whether or not the moratorium would be extended beyond the August 31 deadline.
Polls show that just over half of respondents favor some amount of student loan forgiveness, while just over a third oppose any cancellation at all. While Congress seriously considered the measure in the early days of the pandemic, it would seem that the appetite for such a divisive move is waning.
Student loans are predatory #CancelStudentDebt pic.twitter.com/bblJHyslzy
— 4slj (@4slj_) July 17, 2022
With the President and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unsure if they can simply executive order their way out of the loan debacle, congressional Republicans have vowed to block any measure that would erase student debt.
Things are far from clear, with the Department of Education releasing a statement saying, “The Department of Education will continue to assess the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy on student loan borrowers. We will communicate directly with borrowers about the end of the payment pause when a decision is made.”
I'm confused by these %s that only include people w/Bachelor, since student loan forgiveness should also include people who got a 2-year degree, started college but never finished, or took out federal loans for trade school. The resulting economic stimulus helps everyone. https://t.co/bAkcaK7uwp
— Louise Schwarz 🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@LouiseSchwarz1) November 16, 2020
For the millions of borrowers, the best course of action is to assume that payments on student loans will resume come September. If there is anything beyond that, it will count as a Washington miracle.