The White House officially extended the pause on student loan repayments until the end of August.
Driving the news: President Joe Biden announced in a new statement that the student loan repayment freeze will be extended until Aug. 31, 2022.
Why it matters: Biden said the freeze will be extended in order to help those who have not financially recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- He said, “we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused.”
- The pause will be made “to enable Americans to continue to get back on their feet after two of the hardest years this nation has ever faced.”
- “That additional time will assist borrowers in achieving greater financial security and support the Department of Education’s efforts to continue improving student loan programs.”
What to watch: Biden said that the Department of Education will look for “additional flexibilities and support for all borrowers.”
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The bigger picture: According to NPR, this is the seventh time that the student loan freeze has been extended under the Trump and Biden administrations.
- Democrats pushed for the repayment freeze to extend until 2023.
- “This shorter extension also puts Biden in the precarious political position of asking millions of voters to resume loan payments on the eve of November’s midterm elections – unless he does what many experts expect him to do and simply issues another extension over the summer,” according to NPR.