WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - DECEMBER 11: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event to announce new cabinet nominations at the Queen Theatre on December 11, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. President-elect Joe Biden is continuing to round out his domestic team with the announcement of his choices for cabinet secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, and the heads of his domestic policy council and the U.S. Trade Representative. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
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.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is facing criticism for comments made in a meeting with members…
Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House press secretary during Joe Biden's term in office, announced that…
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-New York) announced plans to build a nuclear power plant in upstate…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a former top deputy for President Donald Trump, called the Republican…
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Carolina's decision to stop covering Planned Parenthood's…
A federal judge ruled on June 24 that the Trump administration cannot eliminate union bargaining…
