Borrowers who fail to make their monthly payments will not be reported to credit bureaus, but there will be other consequences.
Tens of millions of Americans are preparing to make student loan payments for the first time in years in the coming weeks, as a pandemic-era reprieve comes to an end.
As some debtors begin to repay, payments have already begun to flood into the Education Department. The major test for the federal student loan system — and the Biden administration — will come in October, when official due dates are announced.
Individual borrowers must make several decisions about how to repay, including whether to participate in the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment scheme or to take advantage of a new, temporary forbearance option that delays payments but increases interest charges.
At the same time, a prolonged government shutdown might make it difficult for the Education Department to operate the student loan program as payments resume. And millions of Americans are still waiting to see if Biden’s reversal of the mass student debt cancellation policy pans out.
