President Joe Biden announced Wednesday he is extending the freeze on student loan repayments until May 1.
The payments, which were set to restart on February 1, have been paused since the beginning of the pandemic. Biden pointed to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in the country as the reason for the extension.
“Given these considerations, today my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery,” President Biden said in a statement. “Meanwhile, the Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they have the support they need to transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation.”
The reversal comes less than two weeks after White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the administration was still planning to restart federal student loan repayments in February. That put the White House at odds with Congressional Democrats who have been urging the Biden administration to extend the freeze.
The Federal Reserve estimates that the total U.S. student loan debt is more than $1.75 trillion. The Department of Education owns about 92% of that student loan debt.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, along with 13 Senate Democrats, sent a letter to Biden, arguing that the country is still in a state of national emergency due to the pandemic and that the administration should extend the freeze.
In the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, the Trump administration issued an emergency pause on student loan repayments. Both the Trump and Biden administrations extended it. The pandemic is still ongoing, and the U.S. just surpassed 800,000 deaths due to the coronavirus.
Ariana Figueroa of States Newsroom contributed to this report
