TAMPA, Fla. — As a new school year begins, college freshmen are just pulling up, while long-time alumni are still paying out.
In less than two weeks, on Sept. 1, federal student loan lenders will resume asking for their cash back. That is, unless there’s another extension from the White House.
“It’s just so complicated and hard to plan at a time when people now more than ever need to make plans, especially where their money is concerned,” Dr. Victor Claar, an associate professor of economics at the Lutger College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University, said.
Claar says federal student loans were put on pause at the beginning of the pandemic, and the date for those payments to restart has already been pushed back six times.
"If the payments are going to resume, in many ways, it would just be nice to know so you can finally make a plan based on that rather than all of this suspense," Claar said.
For people who are planning to pay, but just don’t have the money right now, Claar recommends giving your lender a call.
“It never ever hurts to pick up the phone and call the people that you owe money, and find out if you might be able to work out some alternative payment plan,” he said.
Claar says, there’s still really no way to tell whether there will be an extension on the pause or not.
CBS news reported earlier this week that the Education Secretary suggested that a possible extension is still under consideration.
