Student loan payments are starting on October 1st.
While we disagree with lifting the student loan payment pause, we do think it’s important that people have the facts. Tons of people have been asking about where to even start after 3 years of suspended payments.
So Alexandria put together a multi-video guide to walk you through all things student loans: from how to make a payment, to how to report your servicer if they’re violating the new laws, how to apply to new programs that can reduce (or even eliminate) your student loan payment, and more. She also discusses where we are in the larger fight for debt cancellation — because we’re not giving up.
We’ll go through the important highlights in this email, but you can watch the videos on YouTube here (or if you’re on TikTok, check out the series here) →
First of all: if you can help it, do not wait until the night before your payment is due to start this process. With millions of people all restarting their payments at once, customer service lines for lenders are going to be completely overwhelmed.
There are also some new repayment programs you should know about. Under SAVE, single borrowers on an income of $15/hour or less won’t have to make any payments at all, nor will married borrowers in a household of 4 making less than $60K/year. And even if you make more, the SAVE program is likely to cut your monthly payments in half. Learn more at studentaid.gov/SAVE.
It’s also important to note that, for the next 12 months, no one’s credit will be hurt if they can’t afford to pay, or make a late or partial payment — but while you won’t get a ding on your credit, interest will still accrue.
4 in 10 people will also have a different loan servicer than they did before COVID — and you may not even realize that your debt was sold. So once you are ready to make your first payment, double check who you actually have to make a payment to.
And regardless of whether or not your lender has changed, update your contact info on studentaid.gov and your servicers’ website. Even if your lender can’t contact you, that won’t stop them from charging you interest.
We hope these tips will be helpful as you navigate the process of repayment. And of course, the fight for student loan cancellation and higher education reform is not over. No one should have to take on a lifetime of debt in order to get a degree.
Yours in service,
Team AOC
