After five years on hold, the U.S. Department of Education will resume collecting student loan payments on May 5.
“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
The Office of Federal Student Aid has not collected defaulted loan payments since March 2020 amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress required students and parents to begin repaying their student loans in October 2023, but the Biden administration did not lift the collections pause.
Resuming collection protects taxpayers from bearing the cost of borrowers’ federal student loans, according to the Education Department.
Borrowers in default will receive emails over the next two weeks urging them to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign…
