Last pandemic-era student loan benefit ends even as borrowers struggle to make payments

The last of the pandemic-era student loan benefits are gone, winding down four years of additional help to borrowers that advocates say was never actually enough.  

The Biden administration’s “on-ramp” over the past year concluded at the beginning of October, meaning borrowers will now be penalized for missing payments.  

Advocates are raising concerns about the number of defaults in the future and emphasize borrowers aren’t ready in the current economy.

Meanwhile, the president’s plans for further debt relief are back in the courts. 

“We’re really concerned that with the end of the on-ramp, there’s going to be a massive default in nine months from now. And so, we really are trying to share as much information as possible with folks. But we are just concerned overall,” said Sabrina Calazans, the managing director at the Student Debt Crisis Center.  

Student loan repayments were turned back on in the fall of 2023, but the Biden administration offered payment training wheels for the following year. Until this month, borrowers were able to miss payments without penalties, such as the Department of Education not notifying the three national credit bureaus, so a borrower’s credit score wouldn’t be affected.  

But time is up, and studies foretell grim months ahead.  

A recent Intuit Credit Karma analysis found 20 percent of student loan borrowers didn’t make payments during the on-ramp, and 36 percent of borrowers said they weren’t paying consistently, since they hoped to receive some further relief.  

While borrowers could miss payments without fear of credit repercussions, interest still accrued during that time, and 69 percent of borrowers who didn’t consistently pay feel they won’t be able to afford the interest they garnered.

“We’re getting close to the holiday season, which is typically a really big spending quarter for consumers. So they’re going to need to make really tough choices around how they choose to spend their money with the reintroduction of student loan payments along with these other competing costs,” said Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma.  

Advocates are pushing the Biden administration to pause payments again, especially after his other relief plans have been caught up in the courts.  

“It just seems that we were given this on-ramp period so the administration had time to implement plan B after we lost that cancellation,” said Natalia Abrams, president and founder of Student Debt Crisis Center.

Plan B for President Biden included implementing the new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan called SAVE and going through the negotiated rulemaking process to help certain groups of borrowers with their loans.  

“Plan B has been sued before the final rule was even released. We don’t have plan B. We don’t have the functioning SAVE [Saving on a Valuable Education] program. So it seems to only make sense that we’ll go back to where we started during the COVID pandemic until this can be sorted out,” Abrams added.

Those on the new SAVE plan, which aimed to reduce monthly student loan payments and shorten the amount of time some borrowers needed to pay before relief, have had their loans put into forbearance until the court cases conclude.

But that only stops payment for around 8 million borrowers, a fraction of the 45 million who are paying back student loans.  

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) released a “best practices” plan for borrowers as the last pandemic benefit came to a halt.  

The group is encouraging borrowers to apply for Fresh Start, which helps individuals who defaulted go back to good repayment standing, look at the IDR plans and keep good records and a detailed budget.  

“As the government sunsets these safety nets, it’s especially critical that the department conduct direct outreach to these borrowers to explain the current status of the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Recent court challenges to the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan has left borrowers confused about whether these plans are still an option, how to apply for them, and what happens after they apply,” said Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at NASFAA. 

While things seem dire, experts say now is the time borrowers have to buckle down and take advantage of the resources available to them. 

“For anyone in this situation, I think it’s really important right now to focus on what people should do if they’re in this case — you know, whether you are positively or neutrally or negatively affected by the on-ramp,” Alev said. “And so, for anyone who’s in this position, I would really recommend that borrowers first take time to assess their current financial situation. It is very tempting to be an ostrich and bury your head in the sand and avoid, you know, understanding where your money’s going to save your debt, but that’s very, very unhelpful.” 

“I really recommend for folks in this situation is get in touch with their loan servicers to discuss payment options. People are scared of not being able to make payments. You do not want to just ignore it and hope it goes away,” she added.