President Joe Biden’s administration extended its pause on federal student loan payments, which were slated to resume on February 1 – the same date when the existing pandemic relief is set to expire. 

Biden stated that financial recovery from the pandemic will take longer than job recovery, especially for those with student loans.

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“We know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” he said in a statement, adding it was an issue he and the vice president “both care deeply about.”

The policy applies to more than 36 million Americans who have student loans that are held by the federal government. Their collective debt totals more than $1.37 trillion, according to the latest Education Department data. About a third of borrowers are in default or delinquency and the average monthly payment is $400 a month. Officials said the pause also helps about 5 million other borrowers currently in school who are not yet paying back loans but are accruing interest.

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The decision came in the backdrop of increasing pressure from Democrats who had been seeking such an extension amid the Omicron surge, as the country got closer to the February 1 deadline. 

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the extension will allow for repayment plans responsive to the financial needs of the students, including an income-driven repayment plan.

The continued pause “will provide critical relief to borrowers who continue to face financial hardships as a result of the pandemic, and will allow our administration to assess the impacts of omicron on student borrowers,” Cardona said.

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In an earlier stance, the government had stated that it was planning to start collecting the monthly payments on the decided date. It reportedly stood its ground even during a meeting between the White House officials and student debt activists, according to the Politico report.

In a statement made on Tuesday, December 21, the department spokesperson had said, “Since Day One of the Biden Administration, we’ve been hard at work delivering meaningful relief to student loan borrowers. That started with an extension of the pause on federal student loan repayment until January 31, 2022. To date, the pause has saved 41 million borrowers tens of billions of dollars.”

According to officials, plans were being made to ease the transition for the borrowers and to possibly give an initial 90-day grace period for missed payments. Rich Cordray, the head of the Office of Federal Student Aid, who is overseeing the restart of student loan payments, had said that this smooth transition was their ‘top priority’, the Politico report stated.

In a letter to the President this month, lawmakers wrote, “The pause on federal student loan payments, interest, and collections has improved borrowers’ economic security, allowing them to invest in their families, save for emergencies, and pay down other debt,” reported CNN.

With inputs from the Associated Press