Student loan restart: Payments to resume in 10 days as federal pause ends

Payment day for borrowers of federal student loans is drawing near, as a 3-1/2-year hiatus comes to an end in 10 days.

Federal loans began accruing interest again on Sept. 1 after the Department of Education’s COVID-era federal pause ended. Payments for student loans have been paused since March 2020, when the COVID pandemic began to affect the United States, but the temporary halt has been extended multiple times by the Biden administration.

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However, the Education Department will not report missed student loan payments as delinquent which could affect your credit, nor will they place borrowers in default. This will be in effect for a 12-month “on-ramp” period to give grace to those who have missed, late, or partial payments.

“We will not report you as delinquent during the on-ramp, but we do not control how credit scoring companies factor in missed or delayed payments. Only loans eligible for the payment pause are eligible for on-ramp,” the department said about its on-ramp guidance.

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Loan plans that qualify under the on-ramp rule include direct loans, Federal Family Education Loan Program loans held by the Education Department, Federal Perkins Loans held by the Education Department, defaulted Federal Family Education Loan Program loans not held by the Education Department, and defaulted Health Education Assistance loans.

Borrowers who graduate in the spring will not have to start making payments until their grace period ends, which is usually six to nine months after graduation. Millions of borrowers can expect billing statements in the coming weeks from loan servicers.