Student loan repayments to restart soon

Purdue employees and any former students with outstanding student loan debt should be preparing for the restart of federal student loan payments. After a three-year COVID-19 payment pause, student loans will begin accruing interest on Sept. 1, and payments will resume on Oct. 1.

Several changes occurred during the payment pause, and borrowers should ready themselves. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says roughly 44% of borrowers now have a different loan servicer than before the pandemic. It is extremely important that borrowers update their contact information with Federal Student Aid (FSA) by logging in with their FSA-ID, or by calling the FSA Information Center at 800-433-3243. Borrowers should also re-establish communications with their loan servicer.

FSA has developed resources to direct borrowers who will be restarting payments after the payment pause and to help borrowers about to start repaying loans for the first time.  Borrowers with loans already in default may wish to learn about the Fresh Start for loans in default program.

Borrowers should be prepared for a long wait when contacting their loan servicers as there will be many other people contacting those resources. Everyone should also think about setting goals for repayment, consider creating a loan payment budget, and be on the lookout for scams.  FSA and the borrower’s specific loan servicer should be the main points of contact for loan repayment information.