After hitting several legal roadblocks that led to a hold on the one-time forgiveness plan introduced in October, the Biden-Harris administration announced another extension on the student loan payment pause. With the current pause, payments would resume no later than 60 days after June 30, 2023. 

Biden-Harris administration extends student loan payment pause until after June 

After multiple lawsuits temporarily blocked the one-time student debt forgiveness plan, the Biden administration announced yet another extension for the federal student loans pause. 

On Nov. 22, 2022, the Department of Education released a statement saying that student loan payments will remain frozen until 60 days after the current forgiveness litigation with the Supreme Court is resolved. If the resolution doesn’t happen before, payments will resume 60 days after June 30, 2023. 

“Callous efforts to block student debt relief in the courts have caused tremendous financial uncertainty for millions of borrowers who cannot set their family budgets or even plan for the holidays without a clear picture of their student debt obligations, and it’s just plain wrong,” says U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, while reiterating the administration’s commitment to borrowers. 

Cardona adds that it would be unfair to borrowers who qualify for forgiveness to be made to pay while the lawsuits are active.  

How you can prepare for when student loan payments restart 

Although student loan payments aren’t set to resume yet, it’s important to avoid unpleasant surprises once they do. 

Contact your student loan servicer and ask what your bill amount will be when repayment restarts. If that’s too high for your current situation, you can always apply for an income-driven repayment plan, which adjusts your payments based on your income and family size, to lower your monthly bill. In some cases, payments could be as low as $0. 

You could also reduce your monthly payments by consolidating or refinancing your student loans.