U.S. Secretary of Education Suspends Federal Student Loan Payments, Waives Interest During COVID-19 Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued an announcement which provides: “All borrowers with federally held student loans will automatically have their interest rates set to 0% for a period of at least 60 days. In addition, each of these borrowers will have the option to suspend their payments for at least two months to allow them greater flexibility during the national emergency. This will allow borrowers to temporarily stop their payments without worrying about accruing interest.”

Secretary DeVos has directed all federal student loan servicers to grant an administrative forbearance to any borrower with a federally held loan who requests one. The forbearance will be in effect for a period of at least 60 days, beginning on March 13, 2020. To request this forbearance, borrowers should contact their loan servicer online or by phone. Secretary DeVos has also authorized an automatic suspension of payments for any borrower more than 31 days delinquent as of March 13, 2020, or who becomes more than 31 days delinquent.

For those who continue to make payments, the full amount of the payments will be applied to the balance once interest accrued prior to March 13th, since no interest is being charged during this emergency measure.  

Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website to read the full text of the announcement.