Christ Yoder
Related Articles
If you’re still paying off your student loan debt, you may have watched the deadline approaching for payment relief brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Now worries about the expiration date can be put aside, at least until the end of the year. President Donald Trump extended student loan relief — was originally scheduled to end at the end of September — until December 31, according to a memorandum released on Saturday.
The relief includes the suspension of loan repayments and a 0% interest rate.
The decision stems from the fact that millions of Americans with hidden student debt remain unemployed and have had to accept reduced wages and hours as some states continue to enforce social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. .
But there’s a catch: your loan must be “held” by the Department for Education to fall under the relief plan, meaning private loans issued by banks, for example, are excluded.
“This relief has helped many students and parents maintain financial stability. And many other Americans continued to regularly pay off their student loan balances, to phase out their long-term loans more quickly,” the memorandum states. “It is therefore appropriate to extend this policy until the economy has stabilized, schools have reopened and the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.”
The initial call for student loan relief came March 20, seven days after Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency. The administration says the decision provided “immediate relief to tens of millions of borrowers” by imposing a temporary forbearance on Americans’ accounts and waiving interest payments.
People who want to continue making payments can do so, according to the memorandum. Total student loan debt in the country stands at $1.56 trillion, with 44.7 million contributing borrowers, Forbes reported.
Over the weekend, two more memoranda and an executive order were revealed. The order increased unemployment benefits for helping millions of unemployed residents see $400 a week or more, possibly by the end of the month, McClatchy News previously reported. However, the States should cover part of the expenses.
Trump also postponed payroll taxes until at least the end of the year and extended the moratorium on evictions.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 2:31 p.m.
