MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The Biden administration is preparing to announce a decision on student loan payments by the end of the month.
On Sunday's "Meet the Press," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that announcement will happen in the "next week or so." In response to the pandemic, federal student loan payments have been paused since March 2020. After six extensions, the pause is once again scheduled to expire on Aug. 31.
"Thinking about student loans, just puts some anxiety on you," said Charles Lartey, 34, of Otsego.
Lartey, a financial analyst, said the more than two-year pause has helped.
"It gave me a lot of relief," said Lartey, one of more than 40 million Americans with student loan debt.
Some borrowers have chosen to continue making payments throughout the pause with a current 0% interest rate.
"I feel like if I put the pause, it would just still be there. So I have the money and work was still paying good for me so might as well keep paying it," said Josmari Lopez, 25, of St. Paul.
With 10 days to go, no official announcement has been made by the Biden administration on what's next.
"We have high inflation; couple that with people not making student loan payments for over two years. They're not factoring it into their budget. It's kind of out of sight, out of mind. So it would be very difficult to make the decision to restart them and whenever that decision is made, we would expect much more than a two-week notice," said David Carlson, author of Student Loan Solution.
Borrowers will receive at least six notices before payments resume.
"We haven't been seeing those which indicates that the administration is very, very likely to extend this repayment pause," Carlson said.
President Biden has supported forgiving $10,000 per borrower but progressive Democrats would like to see it bumped up to $50,000.
Carlson said there is "intense pressure on him and his administration to do some sort of broadscale student loan forgiveness."
Republicans are opposed to any mass debt cancellations.
Lartey said any loan forgiveness would help, saying, "Am I ever going to own a home? Am I ever going to leave something for my kid or kids? So it's a burden on your mind."
Carlson said it's important borrowers understand their options.
For example, there is the Limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver which expands relief for public servants. But those who qualify need to get their paperwork in before Oct. 31.
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