- The Ed. Dept. is considering extending the pause on student-loan payments past Feb. 1.
- It will announce its decision on a further extension later this week.
- Advocates and lawmakers have been pushing Biden for weeks to give borrowers additional relief.
President Joe Biden's Education Department has remained consistent on their messaging over the past few weeks: student-loan payments are scheduled to resume on February 1.
That's why the Tuesday news that the department is considering further extending the pause, as first reported by Politico, was such a welcome surprise for borrowers, advocates, and lawmakers.
Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that while the current pause on student-loan payments is on track to expire early next year, the administration would continue to assess the impact of the Omicron variant and the role it will play in transitioning 43 million federal student-loan borrowers back into repayment.
An Education Department spokesperson offered more insight on repayments plans in a Tuesday statement to Insider:
"Since Day One of the Biden Administration, we've been hard at work delivering meaningful relief to student loan borrowers. That started with an extension of the pause on federal student loan repayment until January 31, 2022. To date, the pause has saved 41 million borrowers tens of billions of dollars. Later this week, we will be announcing whether to extend the pause further."
This comes on the heels of the department's comments to Insider earlier this week, during which it said "a smooth transition back into repayment remains a high priority for the Administration."
Psaki said on Tuesday that Biden had not yet made a decision on the payment restart date.
After Politico reported the consideration of a further extension, some Democrats took to Twitter to laud the information. Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley said it's "welcome news and would absolutely be the right call." And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer weighed in, saying: "Good! Millions of Americans need this relief. President Biden should extend the pause, and he should #CancelStudentDebt."
The House Progressive Caucus also noted the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant as a need for further student-loan relief.
—Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) December 21, 2021
For weeks, advocates have been pushing Biden to continue pandemic relief for student-loan borrowers, and if the president does choose to extend that relief later this week, borrowers will not have to worry about an additional monthly bill coming out of their incomes in 42 days.