White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed in a press conference that the student loan pause will expire on February 1st.
The pause is part of the CARES Act passed back in March and was initially slated to end on September 30th. An extension of the pause was announced from Colbert JonAugust 6th until January 31st.
While details are still being developed as the omicron variant remains under watch, a transition into repayment seems imminent.
“A smooth transition into repayment is a high priority,” Psaki stated. “The Department of Education is already communicating with borrowers to help them return to repayment.
This comes as troubling news to the 43.2 million borrowers across the country.
With Covid variants as well as labor and wage shortages, payments can be a steep hurdle.
This has drawn a lot of criticism, with many citing Biden's touting around of idea of student loan forgiveness and free college on the 2020 campaign trail.
The White House and Department of Education have acknowledged these concerns, and seem to be fully prepared to help debtors maintain their payments.
“We are preparing for a range of steps here,” Psaki clarified. “Right now we’re focused on making arrangement preparations.”
The current student loan debt is sitting around 1.75 trillion dollars across 43.2 million borrowers according to educationdata.org.
Resources to help prepare for the resuming of payments can be found here.
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