Federal direct student loans were scheduled to begin February 2022. It looks like that has been pushed back, yet again, to May 2022.
President Biden announced 12/22/21 that due to the Omicron variant and other factors, he is extending the pause on payments and interest for federal direct student loans until May 1, 2022.
The previous extension was set to end January 31, 2022 and was supposed to be the “final” extension. This marks the 5th extension of the program that began back in October of 2020.
For those that are pursuing PSLF or another student loan forgiveness program, this is welcome news. The payments that aren’t made during the freeze still count towards your required number of monthly payments (increasing the amount of your forgiveness).
If you have had changes to your income since the pandemic started, now is a good time to review your repayment options for when payments resume in May. For more information about FAQs on student loans, check out these 4 things to know about student loans.
As always, if you could use some help weighing your options, let me know.
