The Biden Administration on Friday announced that it will be extending the moratorium on collecting student loans for an additional four months, until Jan. 31, 2022. The moratorium was scheduled to expire on September 30.
In its statement announcing the extension, the Department of Education went as far as to say that this would serve as a “final extension” of the pause and give individuals with unpaid student loans six months to make the necessary arrangements to begin repaying their debts.
“The payment pause has been a lifeline that allowed millions of Americans to focus on their families, health, and finances instead of student loans during the national emergency,” said Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education, in a statement. “As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment. It is the Department’s priority to support students and borrowers during this transition and ensure they have the resources they need to access affordable, high quality higher education.”
“The pause has been a critical lifeline so they don’t have to choose between paying for basic necessities or their student loan during the pandemic that upended their lives,” President Biden said in a statement on Friday. “As today’s jobs numbers show, we have the tools that will allow us to beat COVID-19 and keep our economy recovering at a record rate.”
President Biden had extended the moratorium until September 30 on his first day in office back in January.
The moratorium on collecting student loans was announced in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting the United States. About $1.5 trillion of student loans are not accruing interest and are sitting around, waiting to be collected once the moratorium expires.
Lawmakers in favor of having some or all of outstanding student loan debt canceled used Friday’s announcement as a chance to say that the extension of the moratorium was not enough to help struggling individuals across the country.
“While this temporary relief is welcome, it doesn’t go far enough,” wrote Sen. Charles Schumer [D-N.Y.], the Senate Majority Leader, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] and Rep. Ayanna Pressley [D-Mass.], according to a published report
