SYRACUSE. N.Y. (NCC News) – On October 1st, the three-year pause on federal student loan payments came to an end. The initial pause began as a way to relieve pressure on Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. After postponing the resumption of these payments several times in the past, it has finally come to an official end.
Central New York is home to tens of thousands of college students, the majority of which pay for their education in some shape or form with student loans. Director of Financial Aid at SUNY ESF, Mark Hill, worries about what this resumption in payments will mean for them.
“I think probably one of the biggest impacts will just be students who are not aware of the resumption of the payments or are not necessarily prepared for it,” Hill said.
As students face these massive debts, loan forgiveness has become a hot topic of discussion. Today, President Joe Biden canceled over $9 billion in loans for about 125,000 borrowers. Those numbers for his entire administration currently sit around $127 billion and 3.5 million, respectively. While many will see these debt cancellations as positive, some experts like Hill are concerned about the precedent it’s setting.
“I think we need to be careful about how we do that and make sure whatever we do is sustainable so that we can continue to do so and not just do it spur of the moment in lump sum efforts, ” he said.
Students will now have only have a six-month grace period after graduation before their student loan payments begin.
