Whether borrowers will resume paying their student loans on February 1 will likely be up to President-elect Joe Biden, after Congress left any pause on student loan payments and collections out of the stimulus bill passed Monday.
“We need to get off this treadmill,” Persis Yu, the director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center, said of the incremental extensions of the payment pause. Congress’ decision not to act on it, “creates a lot of anxiety for borrowers,” she added, “and I’m sure a lot of anxiety for servicers as well. This system needs certainty.”
Though lawmakers didn’t extend the student loan payment pause, the package of bills passed Monday contains other provisions that could impact student loan borrowers and college students. They include: “That is disappointing because Congress isn’t really out front here saying that they’re trying to prioritize relief for everybody,” Goldstein said. “Instead they’re spending money extending this tax break.”
The relief provided by the stimulus bill likely won’t be enough to mitigate those challenges. College lobbying groups had estimated the pandemic’s cost to schools and its students to be $120 billion. The bill also means that students can find out in 9th or 10th grade whether they qualify for the maximum Pell Grant, the money the government provides low-income students to attend college. There’s some evidence to indicate that knowing money is available for college can push students towards attending.
The legislation repeals a ban on incarcerated students accessing the Pell grant, a prohibition that’s been in place since 1994. Politicians, as well as advocates and researchers, have said increasing access to funding for college for incarcerated students can be an important tool for reducing recidivism.
Changes to how we talk about families’ eligibility for aid When students fill out the FASFA, the information is used by states and schools to determine what is called an Expected Family Contribution — essentially the amount the formula calculates a household should be contributing to college costs. “Cutting that number off at zero, means that 40% of students have that same zero number, it’s hard for states and colleges to figure out among that group, who needs the money the most.”
The House Republicans want you to sit on your hands , hold your breath & practice your protest 'loud mouth'. Their blaming it all on President Trump, 'Et Tu Brute' !
What stimulus package?
good luck