Update: Student Loan Repayment

Student loan interest and payments are set the resume in the coming months. It has been over three years since the student loan payment pause began in March 2020. Since that time, required payments have been extended several times, and the possibility of a one-time forgiveness program was scheduled and then blocked by the Supreme Court.

Here is what we know as of August 16th, 2023. 

This blog is intended for informational purposes to help point you in the right direction of important dates, resources and how My Financial Snapshot can help you prepare for student loan payments to begin again!

Important Dates!

September 1st, 2023 – Student loan interest will begin to accrue again.

October 2023 – Student loan payments are set to begin again. The official payment date may vary depending on who is servicing your loan. You should be notified 21 days before your official payment restart. 

If you want to avoid at least one month of interest accruing without payment, you can restart payments on your loans today or schedule payments to begin September 1st with your service provider.

Resources!

If you have the following loan types:

• Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
• Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
• PLUS Loans
• Consolidation Loans (Direct or FFEL)

If you have any of the following questions:

• How much in student loans do I owe?
• Who is my student loan service provider(s)?
  What types of loans do I have?
• What interest rates do I have on my student loans?
• What is my payment going to be when payment restarts?
• Can I lower my monthly payment? 
• What are the different types of income-driven repayment plans?

The best resource you can access is the Federal Student Aid website (studentaid.gov).

You can answer all of the above questions and more through this website. Use this resource to gather information on your student loans and get an action plan that works best for you!

Income-Driven Repayment Plans

What if you change your payment plan to lower your monthly payment or increase your payments to pay off your loan balance quicker? 

The main factors that will accept whether you are eligible to change your payment plan are as follows:

• What type(s) of loans do you have
• If your income has gone up or down significantly since March 2020
• Your marital status has changed since March 2020
• The number of dependents you claim on your tax return has changed since March 2020

There are options available. There are currently seven types of payment plans available. 

You can read more about all seven types of payment plans in detail here.  

• Standard Repayment Plan (most common)
• Graduated Repayment Plan
• Extended Repayment Plan
• Save on Valuable Education Plan (SAVE)
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE)
• Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR)
• Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR)
• Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan

How My Financial Snapshot Can Help You!

There are two main ways that My Financial Snapshot can help you get prepared for your student loan payments to restart.

1. Budgeting – Use the Budgeting Tool on My Financial Snapshot to help you work your student loan payment into a monthly budget. With the Budgeting Tool, you can view your monthly income, investments, savings, and expenses all in one place. Budgeting for this additional expense may impact other areas of your budget like the amount you are able to invest and save every month. Or it may affect discretionary spending like shopping, dining out, travel, and entertainment expenses. 
2. Your total loan balance – Use the Snapshot Tool to see the entire picture of your financial landscape. With the Snapshot Tool, you can see all your assets and debts on one page. You can see where your money is and how your student loan balance compares to other assets and debts. If you are trying to pay off your student loan ASAP, seeing where you have money in checking, savings, or investment accounts helps to see if you can do that