By Brandon Poulter
Nearly 40% of student loan borrowers missed their first payment this fall following the unfreezing of student loan debt payments by the Biden administration, according to Politico.
About 26% of borrowers that owed a payment in October 2019 failed to make a payment by the middle of November 2019, according to Politico. Of about 22 million borrowers who had payments due in October 2023, about 8.8 million did not make payments by the middle of November 2023.
“While most borrowers have already made their first payment, others will need more time. Some are confused or overwhelmed about their options. We want to make sure borrowers know that our top priority is to support student loan borrowers as they return to repayment,” Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal wrote in a blog post in Friday.
The Department of Education (ED) announced in June that when student loan debt payments restarted on Oct. 1, borrowers who miss payments would not be reported to credit bureaus or considered delinquent until Sep. 30 2024, according to an ED blog post.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against the Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness program for non-Pell Grant and Pell Grant recipients in June. The ED announced another plan on June 30 to expand income-driven repayment plans.
ED announced in August that they would use the Higher Education Act to forgive student loans, and the new plan cut payments for individuals making $32,800 or less annually to $0. The White House announced another program in December that would relieve debt through Public Service Loan Forgiveness for borrowers who have been in repayment for at least 20 years but have not gotten credit for payments.
The Biden administration has forgiven billions in student debt for over 3.6 million borrowers, according to a December White House press release. It has forgiven almost $51 billion for 715,000 borrowers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness, almost $42 billion for 855,000 borrowers through income-driven repayment programs and $11.7 billion for nearly 513,000 borrowers with disabilities.
ED did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
