CINCINNATI — The Department of Education announced federal student loan payments will continue to be paused until January 2022.
Jami Brown is one of the 1.8 million Ohioans who are student borrowers that the temporary pause on student loan payments will affect their financial future.
“I’m obtaining my masters degree in nursing,” Brown said. “When my student loans kick in, it will be two years from now when I start making payments. I should owe around $60,000.”
Many argued that it would have been unfair to let the moratorium expire at the end of September without giving borrowers ample time to prepare.
“I was not looking forward to starting to pay those, I wasn’t financially prepared yet,” said Brown. “I calculated my minimum monthly payment and it averages out to $17.56 a day that I will be paying.”
Borrowers have had the option to forego their monthly payments since March 2020 without interest accruing on their debt, according the Department of Education.
The Department of Education stated clearly in its announcement to extend student loan relief that Jan. 31 will be the official end of the student loan moratorium. Brown and the millions of other Americans with education debt will need to face the return of a bill they haven’t seen in nearly two years.
“The payment pause has been a lifeline that allowed millions of Americans to focus on their families, health, and finances instead of student loans during the national emergency,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment.”
