Student loan debt is crippling most of the country, and it seems like the White House is trying to come up with a remedy. But is it a band-aid solution, or rubbing salt in the wound? U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stated on August 21 that President Joe Biden will reportedly announce his details on the student loan payment pause this week. This is the seventh extension thus far.
The current student loan payment pause ends on August 31, 2022.
“We know August 31 is a date many people are waiting to hear something from,” Cardona told Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet The Press as reported by Forbes. “We’ve been talking daily about this, and I can tell you that the American people will hear within the next week or so.”
The initial student loan pause began on March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic via the $2 trillion CARES Act. This wide-sweeping stimulus package included stipulations that waived mandatory federal student loan payments; 0% interest rates on federal student loans; and no collection of student loans in default.
The Trump administration re-upped the loan moratorium two times, and President Biden extended it four more times making it so that borrowers haven’t been required to make a payment in almost two years.
This come on the heels of his campaign promise to prioritize the elimination of student loan debt, which currently stands at $28.4 trillion in 2021. As the latest extension deadline looms, the Biden’s administration’s silence leading up to its end has left more than 40 million student loan borrowers on pins and needles waiting for Biden’s decision on student loan forgiveness. Although Biden has canceled $32 billion of student loans thus far, that sweeping action still left out many borrowers’ who didn’t meet the forgiveness criteria.
Biden is expected to make an announcement this week.