A one-year grace period that kept student loan providers from reporting missed payments to national credit bureaus will end Monday.
The end of the pandemic-era benefit means some student loan services will report late, missed or partial payments to credit bureaus, which could impact borrowers’ credit scores.
The Biden administration provided this 12-month “on-ramp period” after the three-year pause on student loan repayments during the pandemic ended last year.
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The U.S. Department of Education said if borrowers can’t afford their monthly payments, there are options like loan consolidation, forbearance, deferment or forgiveness programs that they may be eligible for.
Meanwhile, the fate of the Biden administration’s latest student loan debt relief plan the SAVE plan is up in the air as it awaits its outcome in court.
According to CNN, a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15 in the U.S. Court of Appeals. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion for an administrative stay filed by a group of Republican-led states in July seeking to invalidate the administration’s entire student loan forgiveness program.