Biden Pauses Student Loan Debt Repayment Until May 1

The Biden administration has extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed tens of millions of Americans to pause debt payments throughout the pandemic.

Payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1, it says. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and debt collection efforts will be suspended. Those measures were set to expire Jan. 31.

“We know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The policy applies to more than 36 million Americans with federal student loans; their collective debt totals more than $1.37 trillion, according to Education Department data.

The Trump administration suspended federal student loan payments in March 2020 and later extended it through January 2021. This is the second time Biden has extended it; he has previously said he supports canceling up to $10,000 in student debt but has argued it should be done by Congress.