The pause on student loan payments is ending. Can borrowers find room in their budgets?
After a payment pause that has lasted more than three years, more than 40 million student loan borrowers will be on the hook for payments starting in late August
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a good month, Celina Chanthanouvong has about $200 left after rent, groceries and car insurance. That doesn’t factor in her student loans, which have been on hold since the start of the pandemic and are estimated to cost $300 a month. The pause in repayment has been a lifeline keeping the 25-year-old afloat.
“I don’t even know where I would begin to budget that money,” said Chanthanouvong, who works in marketing in San Francisco.
Now, after more than three years, the lifeline is being pulled away.
More than 40 million Americans will be on the hook for federal student loan payments starting in late August under the terms of a debt ceiling deal approved by Congress last week. The Biden administration has been targeting that timeline for months, but the deal ends any hope of a further extension of the pause, which has been prolonged while the Supreme Court decides the president’s debt cancellation.
