The federal government is the primary lender for students who borrow money for college and graduate school, and the Education Department directly holds more than $1.4 trillion in student debt. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will have the ability to make changes that can directly affect millions of borrowers’ monthly bills.
Here’s what you need to know.
Student loan pause
Some 22 million borrowers of federal student loans have had their monthly payments temporarily paused and interest waived through the end of the year because of the pandemic – a suspension of payments on debt totaling more than $900 billion – and they’re anxious to learn if the relief will continue into 2021.
President Donald Trump, through an executive action, already extended the so-called administrative forbearance through Dec. 31. (It had been scheduled to expire Sept. 30 under an emergency legislative package.) But it’s unclear whether he plans to provide another extension before Biden takes office in late January. A spokeswoman for the Education Department declined to comment. Biden’s transition team also declined to comment on its plans.