The updates below were first shared in the April 2022 edition of Ohio Council Insight. They have been included again here to remind members about relevant programs and deadlines.

Student Loan Repayment Pause
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education announced an extension of the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections through August 31, 2022. During the extension, the department will continue to assess the financial impacts of the pandemic on student loan borrowers and to prepare to transition borrowers smoothly back into repayment. This includes allowing all borrowers with paused loans to receive a “fresh start” on repayment by eliminating the impact of delinquency and default and allowing them to reenter repayment in good standing.

Actions to Fix Longstanding Failures in the Student Loan Programs
The Department of Education announced steps that will bring borrowers closer to public service loan and income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness by addressing historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan programs. Federal Student Aid (FSA) estimates that these changes will result in immediate debt cancellation for at least 40,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgiveness through IDR. More than 3.6 million borrowers will also receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness.

Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Overhaul
As a reminder, the Department of Education announced a set of actions last year that are intended to restore the promise of PSLF. They are offering a time-limited waiver so that student borrowers can count payments from all federal loan programs or repayment plans toward forgiveness. This includes loan types and payment plans that were not previously eligible. The waiver will run through October 31, 2022. That means borrowers who need to consolidate will have to submit a consolidation application by that date. Similarly, borrowers will need to submit a PSLF form—the single application used for a review of employment certification, payment counts, and processing of forgiveness—on or before October 31, 2022, to have previously ineligible payments counted. The department recommends borrowers take this action through the online PSLF Help Tool, which is available at StudentAid.gov/PSLF. For more information, please visit StudentAid.gov/PSLFWaiver.