[co-author: Madison Hughes]
On Wednesday, December 22, the Biden-Harris administration announced its decision to provide federal student loan borrowers an additional 90 days of repayment relief. This pause on federal student loan repayments is scheduled to last through the start of May 2022. This is the third time the administration has extended the repayment moratorium since taking office in January 2021.
Secretary of the Department of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona, stated that “students and borrowers will always be at the center of our work at the Department, and [regulators] are committed to not only ensuring a smooth return to repayment but also increasing accountability, and stronger customer service from our loan servicers as borrowers prepare for repayment” when discussing the move. Furthermore, in his statement announcing the extension, President Biden urged borrowers to “take full advantage of [federal] resources to help prepare for payments to resume; look at options to lower payments through income-based repayment plans; explore public service loan forgiveness; and make sure you are vaccinated and boosted when eligible.”
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) –champions of the administration unilaterally forgiving upwards of $50,000 of federal student loan debt via authorities provided through the Higher Education Act of 1965 (P. L. 89 – 329) – stated that while “[they are] pleased the Biden-Harris Administration has heeded our call to extend the pause on student loan payments … [the lawmakers will] continue to call on President Biden to take executive action to cancel $50,000 in student debt, which will help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers and accelerate our economic recovery.”
In an effort to ease the transition when the pause is ultimately lifted, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) – with the support of Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) – recently called on the administration to continue to waive the interest on federal student loans throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter, the lawmakers stated that continuing to waive student loan interest would “provide federal student loan borrowers with a smoother process to resume repayment,” noting that the Department of Education found that waiving student loan interest saves borrowers an additional $5 billion per month. Sen. Warnock asserts that Congress provided the administration such authority via the passage of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003 (P. L. 108 – 76).
