Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 6 - Issue 2

On Wednesday, the Biden-Harris administration announced plans to extend the pause on federal student loan payments, interest, and collection activities through August 31, 2022. The extension, which was set to expire on May 1, 2022, is said to be due to the need for ongoing recovery for borrowers from the pandemic. Members of Congress had been urging the administration for such an extension, but had asked for an extension through December 31, 2022 arguing that the Education Department (ED) needed more time to fix ongoing issues with the repayment system. In addition to the extension, ED will place student loans that were in delinquency or default prior to the pause into good standing when the extension expires.

On Monday, the Senate unveiled a bipartisan Covid relief deal that would rescind $500 million in unspent higher education funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. According to federal spending records, the $500 million is from an estimated $886 million in unspent relief that had not been awarded by ED.

An NPR investigation alleges that the government’s most affordable student loan program failed low-income borrowers.

Inside Higher Education’s recent blog post, A Simpler Way on Student Loans, outlines how eliminating interest from student loans would benefit borrowers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently fined a student loan servicer for allegedly misrepresenting eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 117th Congress (2021-2022).