The federal student loan payment pause is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2022, but some experts suspect it will be extended.
Experts believe that it’s possible President Joe Biden’s administration will extend the payment pause on student loans as his forgiveness plan faces legal battles, according to CNBC.
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Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz told CNBC “the Biden Administration is likely to further extend the payment pause,” if the president’s policy remains blocked in the courts by the end of the year.
The Washington Post reported that officials in the White House are starting to discuss the possibility of another extension if lawsuits continue to halt its loan forgiveness plan. It would be the 8th time the pause has been extended.
Federal student loan payments have been on pause since March 2020, when COVID first hit the U.S. According to the CNBC report, “resuming the bills for over 40 million Americans will be a massive task, and the Biden administration had hoped to smooth the transition by forgiving a large share of student debt first.”
Read: Federal student aid website no longer accepting applications for loan forgiveness
Since Biden announced his plan to cancel up to $20,000 for tens of millions of borrowers, conservative groups and Republican states have been working to block it. The Department of Education stopped accepting applications for federal student loan forgiveness last week after a federal judge in Texas called it “unconstitutional” and struck it down.
“Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program. As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders,” a statement on the application page reads. “If you’ve already applied, we’ll hold your application. Subscribe and check back here for updates. We will post information as soon as further updates are available.”
The program would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients would get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven. The cancellation applies to federal student loans used to attend undergraduate and graduate school, along with Parent Plus loans.
“The Biden Administration has promised forgiveness to tens of millions of borrowers who will be upset about having to make payments on loans that they expected to be forgiven,” Kantrowitz told CNBC.