Federal student loans and federal parent loans: These loans are funded by the federal government. The government offers a wide variety of student loan repayment options. You can choose to pay your student loans back in monthly installments, or you can opt for income-based repayment. This means that the amount you owe will be based on your income, so if you make less money, you’ll have smaller payments. In this post, we explore all you need to know about when are federal student loans due, student loan extension 2022, biden student loans, federal student loan forgiveness and how to tell if your student loans are federal.

Federal student loans are generally considered to be more favorable than private loans because they offer more generous repayment options and forgiveness programs. For example, if you work in public service for 10 years after graduation or 100% of your monthly income goes toward paying down your loan balance each month, any remaining balance is forgiven by the federal government. Read on to know more on when are federal student loans due, student loan extension 2022, biden student loans, federal student loan forgiveness and how to tell if your student loans are federal.

when are federal student loans due

We begin with when are federal student loans due, then, student loan extension 2022, biden student loans, federal student loan forgiveness and how to tell if your student loans are federal.

COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Federal Student Aid

Here, you can find information about COVID-19 relief for federal student loans. You can also learn how to prepare for loan payments to begin again.

Student Loan Payment Pause Extended Through Aug. 31, 2022

On April 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) extended the student loan payment pause through Aug. 31, 2022.

The pause includes the following relief measures for eligible loans:

• a suspension of loan payments
• a 0% interest rate
• stopped collections on defaulted loans

Don’t accept unexpected offers of financial aid or help (such as a “pandemic grant” or “Biden loan forgiveness”) without checking with your school to see if the offer is legit. Learn how to avoid scams.

Preparing for Repayment to Resume

Here are four steps to make sure you’re prepared for student loan payments to resume:

• Update your contact information in your profile on your loan servicer’s website and in your StudentAid.gov profile.
• Review your auto-debit enrollment or sign up for the first time. To do so, log in to your loan servicer’s website or contact your loan servicer directly.
• Check out Loan Simulator to find a repayment plan that meets your needs and goals or to decide whether to consolidate.
• Consider applying for an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. An IDR plan can make your payments more affordable, depending on your income and family size.

Payment Amount and Due Date

Wondering what your payment amount and due date will be? Once the payment pause ends, you’ll receive your billing statement or other notice at least 21 days before your payment is due. This notice will include your payment amount and due date.

In the meantime, you can get an estimate of your payment amount and due date through your loan servicer. Contact your loan servicer online or by phone.

student loan extension 2022

Next, we review student loan extension 2022, biden student loans, federal student loan forgiveness and how to tell if your student loans are federal.

The current break on student loan payments is set to expire on Aug. 31, 2022, following a series of extensions, which means that in four months millions of federal student loan borrowers will be on the hook for monthly payments with interest for the first time since March 2020. While the U.S. Department of Education previously stated that the forbearance period would end on May 1, its most recent press release says that the extension was implemented in response to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bankrate insight:

The student loan payment pause now ends on Aug. 31, 2022. Borrowers should prepare to resume making their scheduled payments in September or consider alternative repayment options.

The latest extension was issued to make transition into repayment easier

The student loan payment freeze has been extended six times since March 2020, with each extension issued for economic reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the economy is recovering, the press release says that “President Biden has made clear the continuing need to respond to the pandemic and its economic consequences, as well as to allow for the responsible phase-down of pandemic relief.”

“The extension will provide additional time for borrowers to plan for the resumption of payments, reducing the risk of delinquency and defaults after restart,” the press release reads. The department also announced that it will allow federal borrowers with delinquent payments or defaulted loans to reenter payment in good standing.

As with previous extensions, the administration also promised that it would use this time to improve federal servicer accountability and oversight, which has been one of its biggest goals in 2022 following several reports of federal loan mismanagement.

Will there be another extension?

As the economy recovers, the Education Department is less likely to continue extending the forbearance period. While another extension is not impossible, federal student loan borrowers should prepare to resume making regularly scheduled payments in September.

You’ll receive a billing statement from your loan servicer at least 21 days before your first payment is due, and you may receive additional communication about the end of the forbearance period before that. You can use these final few months of the payment pause to make interest-free payments, focus on private student loan payments or pay down high-interest debt, like credit card debt.

However, if you’re concerned about making payments again in September, you have options. If you’re looking for a lower monthly payment, consider enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan or Public Service Loan Forgiveness – which has temporarily loosened its eligibility requirements through Oct. 31 – or apply for federal forbearance if you don’t have the resources to start up payments. You can also think about refinancing with a private lender if you can get a lower interest rate and you aren’t worried about losing federal benefits.

biden student loans

Now, we find out biden student loans, federal student loan forgiveness and how to tell if your student loans are federal.

The Biden administration is unlikely to announce a decision on student loan forgiveness until later this summer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The more than 40 million Americans saddled with student debt have been anxiously awaiting news after President Joe Biden said in May he’d be sharing his plans in the next couple of weeks.

The White House’s announcement on forgiveness is likely to come in July or August, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Most likely causing the delay is intense deliberation — and disagreement — between officials on the political and financial factors of canceling billons of dollars in education debt. There’s no precedent for such a move.

The country’s $1.7 trillion outstanding student loan balance outpaces credit card or auto debt, and a quarter of borrowers were already behind on their payments prior to the pandemic public health crisis.

On the campaign trail, Biden said he was in support of clearing $10,000 from borrowers’ accounts. Doing so would cost around $321 billion and completely forgive the loans of about one-third of student loan borrowers.

Yet there’s concern that such an announcement would cause more frustration and disappointment than anything else. The average education debt balance, after all, is three times that, at around $30,000.

As a result, the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York — along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democrats — is pushing the president to cancel at least $50,000 for all.

The NAACP has also been vocal about how $10,000 wouldn’t go nearly far enough for Black student loan borrowers. Wisdom Cole, national director of the association’s youth and college division, recently said on Twitter that nixing just $10,000 would be “a slap in the face.”

But no amount of forgiveness would leave all borrowers happy.

Even if $50,000 per borrower was erased, the 3 million-plus borrowers who are more than $100,000 in the red would still be stuck with large balances.

Many Americans are infuriated by the the idea of any student debt forgiveness, including those who never borrowed for their education or went to college. Some Republicans have said they would try to block an effort by the president to cancel the debt.

In the meantime, federal student loan continue to be on pause until at least the end of August, as part of a pandemic-era relief policy that began in March 2020. Data shows nearly all borrowers have stopped making their payments.

federal student loan forgiveness

Understanding Loan Forgiveness

Forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge of your loan means that you are no longer required to repay some or all of your loan. Find out more using the links below.

Differences Between Forgiveness, Cancellation, and Discharge

The terms forgiveness, cancellation, and discharge mean nearly the same thing, but they’re used in different ways. If you’re no longer required to make payments on your loans due to your job, this is generally called forgiveness or cancellation. If you’re no longer required to make payments on your loans due to other circumstances, such as a total and permanent disability or the closure of the school where you received your loans, this is generally called discharge.

It’s important to remember that outside of the circumstances that may qualify you to have your loans forgiven, canceled, or discharged, you remain responsible for repaying your loan—whether or not you complete your education, find a job related to your program of study, or are happy with the education you paid for with your loan. Even if you were a minor (under the age of 18) when you signed your promissory note or received the loan, you are still responsible for repaying your loan.

Types of Forgiveness, Cancellation, and Discharge

The summaries below offer a quick view of the types of forgiveness, cancellation, and discharge available for the different types of federal student loans.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Available for Direct Loans.*

If you are employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

PSLF forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Available for Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans.

If you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Loan or FFEL Program loans.

Note: You may not receive a benefit for the same qualifying payments or period of service for Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Note: The limited PSLF waiver temporarily waives this restriction for individuals who previously received Teacher Loan Forgiveness. 

Closed School Discharge

Available for Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, and Perkins Loans.

If your school closes while you’re enrolled or soon after you withdraw, you may be eligible for discharge of your federal student loan.

Perkins Loan Cancellation and Discharge

Available only for Federal Perkins Loans.

You may be eligible to have all or a portion of your Perkins Loan canceled (based on your employment or volunteer service) or discharged (under certain conditions). This includes Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation.

Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

Available for Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, and Perkins Loans.

If you’re totally and permanently disabled, you may qualify for a discharge of your federal student loans and/or Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant service obligation.

Discharge Due to Death

Available for Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, and Perkins Loans.

Federal student loans will be discharged due to the death of the borrower or of the student on whose behalf a PLUS loan was taken out.

Discharge in Bankruptcy (in rare cases)

Available for Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, and Perkins Loans.

In some cases, you can have your federal student loan discharged after declaring bankruptcy. However, discharge in bankruptcy is not an automatic process.

Borrower Defense to Repayment

Available for Direct Loans.*

You may be eligible for discharge of your federal student loans based on borrower defense to repayment if you took out the loans to attend a school and the school did something or failed to do something related to your loan or to the educational services that the loan was intended to pay for. The specific requirements to qualify for a borrower defense to repayment discharge vary depending on when you received your loan.

False Certification Discharge

Available for Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans.

You might be eligible for a discharge of your federal student loan if your school falsely certified your eligibility to receive a loan.

Unpaid Refund Discharge

Available for Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans.

If you withdrew from school and the school didn’t make a required return of loan funds to the loan servicer, you might be eligible for a discharge of the portion of your federal student loan(s) that the school failed to return.

Forgery Discharge

Available for Direct Loans, as well as FFEL Program loans and Federal Perkins Loans held by the U.S. Department of Education.

Forgery is the creation of a false written document or alteration of a genuine one, with the intent to defraud. Victims of identity theft are frequently also the victims of forgery.

If you believe you were the victim of forgery, you might be eligible for a discharge of federal student loan(s) fraudulently made in your name.

Eligibility for Parent Borrowers

As with loans made to students, a parent PLUS loan can be discharged if you die, if you (not the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan) become totally and permanently disabled, or if your loan is discharged in bankruptcy. Your parent PLUS loan may also be discharged if the child for whom you borrowed dies.

In addition, all or a portion of a parent PLUS Loan may be discharged in any of these circumstances:

• The student for whom you borrowed could not complete his or her program because the school closed.
• Your eligibility to receive the loan was falsely certified by the school.
• Your eligibility to receive the loan was falsely certified through identity theft.
• The student withdrew from school, but the school didn’t pay a refund of your loan money that it was required to pay under applicable laws and regulations.

Contact your loan servicer for more information.

How to Apply For Forgiveness

Contact your loan servicer if you think you qualify. If you have a Perkins Loan, you should contact the school that made the loan or the loan servicer the school has designated.

Loan Payments During the Application Review Period

Depending on the type of forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge you’re applying for, you may have to make payments during your application review. Check with your loan servicer to find out whether you must continue making payments during the application review period.

My Application Was Approved

If you qualify for forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge of the full amount of your loan, you are no longer obligated to make loan payments. If you qualify for forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge of only a portion of your loan, you are responsible for repaying the remaining balance.

If you qualify for certain types of loan discharge, you may also receive a refund of some or all of the payments you made on the loan, and any adverse information related to your delinquency or default on the loan may be deleted from your credit record. If the loan was in default, the discharge may erase the default status. If you have no other defaulted loans, you would regain eligibility for federal student aid.

My Application Was Denied

If your application was denied, you’ll remain responsible for repaying your loan according to the terms of the promissory note that you signed. Talk to your loan servicer about repayment options if you have a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan. Check out repayment options.

If your loan is in default, visit Getting Out of Default to find out how to begin repaying your loan and your options for getting out of default.

If you believe that your application was denied in error, contact your loan servicer for more information.

how to tell if your student loans are federal

Check the Federal Student Aid site

Studentaid.gov contains information on all federal student loans. It’s the easiest way to determine if your loans are federal and get any loan information you may need. If you don’t see your loan information on studentaid.gov, you don’t have a federal student loan.

You access the site with your FSA ID to see your loan amount, status, servicer, outstanding balance and disbursement details. You can also apply for loan consolidation or sign up for an income-driven repayment plan there.

» MORE: Federal student loan forbearance pauses payments until Oct. 1

Contact your loan servicer

Federal loans are managed by one of nine student loan servicers. You can contact 1-800-4-FED-AID, the federal student aid helpline, to determine if your loan is managed by any of them. If so, the helpline can connect you to your servicer for more information about your loan.

Most borrowers with private loans won’t be able to reach their servicer by calling the student aid helpline. Some federal loan servicers also issue private loans, however, so make sure to verify which you have when you call.

Review your billing statement

For federal student loans, the top of a student loan bill will have the name of your student loan servicer and the name of your federal student loan program.

For private student loan bills, you’ll see the name of your private lender on the bill instead.

How to check private student loans

Unlike with federal student loans, there is no centralized database with all private student loan information.

And private student loans don’t qualify for the current interest-free forbearance. They also aren’t being considered for student loan forgiveness. If you want to lower your payment or repay your private loan faster, consider student loan refinance.

You’ll know your loans are through a private lender if you check studentaid.gov or use the other methods mentioned above and can’t verify your loans are federal.

If you are not in touch with your lender, one good way to track down your private student loan debt is through your credit report. Pulling a free credit report won’t affect your credit score and will give you a list of your debts. Your credit report will show your outstanding balance from the date the information was collected and will tell you which lender owns the debt. Contact the lender listed to get more information on your private student loan.

You can also check with your school. Because student loans are disbursed directly to the college, your school’s financial aid office may have a record of where your loan money came from.

If you have more than one loan, then you should repay the loan with the highest interest rate first. This will save you money in the long run. The government also provides repayment options that can help you reduce your monthly payment or make your payments more affordable. You can set up an income-based repayment plan, consolidate your loans, and extend the term of your loan.