The swearing in of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States, the subsequent celebratory festivities and the collective released breath of billions of people around the world were not the only high notes to this past Wednesday’s inaugural events. Among the 15 Executive Orders that Mr. President immediately enacted, with the Day One wielding of his pen he directed the Department of Education to increase student loan relief.
As many of us will remember, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in The States back in 2020, some financial relief was provided to student loan holders. As a part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act legislation, American borrowers were granted a reprieve on their student loan payments. The interest on those loans was also set to 0% and collections on defaulted loans was halted through the end of 2020. In December, then President Trump and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos extended that grace until January 31, 2021.
With coronavirus cases in the U.S. now topping 24.7 million (a quarter of the 96.2 million cases globally), deaths exceeding 400 thousand and states across the nation implementing sheltering measures and business restrictions and closures, the personal and economic impacts of the virus cannot be understated. Which is why the new president’s extension on the halting of principal and interest payments on all direct federal student loans until at least the end of September 2021 makes so much sense.
In a presser released from the Department of Education, the consensus was the same:
“Too many Americans are struggling to pay for basic necessities and to provide for their families. They should not be forced to choose between paying their student loan and putting food on the table.”
And although President Biden stated last month that he’d be unlikely to entertain any resolutions introduced by House and Senate Democrats for an all-out cancellation of the debt (of up to $50,000), understanding that so many Americans need this extended relief now, seems to be a responsible and compassionate step in the direction toward human and economic recovery.
