9 Million Borrowers Miss First Student Loan Payment Post-Pandemic Pause

Biden Administration's On-Ramp Period Shields Borrowers from Significant Penalties Until September 2024

Nearly 9 million student loan borrowers missed their first payment after the pandemic-related pause ended this fall, according to the Department of Education.
During the on-ramp period created by the Biden administration, borrowers who miss payments through September 2024 won’t face significant penalties and won’t be reported as delinquent or in default to the three national credit bureaus, but interest will continue to accrue.
Many borrowers have a different student loan servicer than they did before the pause went into effect, creating confusion and leading to hourslong wait times when calling their servicer with questions.
There are potentially millions more student loan borrowers who didn’t make their October payment due to problems created by their student loan servicers, which are contracted by the Department of Education to collect federal student loan payments.
The Biden administration has canceled a record $132 billion of federal student loan debt for more than 3.6 million people through existing forgiveness programs since taking office.