The Biden administration is facing a difficult decision on whether to resume student loan payments, which have been paused since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Will Happen After the Supreme Court’s Decision on Student Loans?
The payments are scheduled to restart either 60 days after the Supreme Court ruling on Biden’s student debt forgiveness program or 60 days after June 30, 2022. Biden had previously stated that the payments would resume at the beginning of 2023, and there would be no further extension.
However, if the Supreme Court strikes down Biden’s relief proposal, the White House may consider another extension of the loan payment pause, according to a published article in The Hill.
READ ALSO: DHS To Screen Asylum-Seekers With Access To Legal Counsel In Limited Experiment
Extension of Student Loans Could Be Considered
Rebecca Natow, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at Hofstra University, believes that the Biden administration may consider this option due to the political popularity of the student loan pause, which could impact the presidential election next year.
However, the administration has not given a specific reason for when the pause is no longer needed, which could make the decision-making process challenging.
Resuming Student Loans
The administration is currently arguing that they can forgive student loan debts under the HEROES Act because it relates to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, even after the national emergency declaration ends in May. The White House could use the same argument for extending student loan payments yet again, although legal challenges may arise.
Resuming student loan payments without debt relief could increase delinquencies and put borrowers in a worse financial position than before the pandemic. Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, explained that the decision to extend the pause is based on the facts and whether relief is still needed to ensure people are not left worse off as a result of the national emergency.
Furthermore, the decision on whether to resume student loan payments is a challenging one for the Biden administration, with potential legal and political consequences.