ALLENDALE, Mich. — If you have student loans, your payments will now be suspended through the end of the year.
This is the second time the Department of Education passed some relief for student loan borrowers, the first being part of the CARES Act in March.
Education Secretary Betsy Devos implemented these changes recently. Those changes include no federal student loan payments, no interest on your federal student loan payments, and count non-payment debt toward requirement for public service loan forgiveness.
This only applies to federal loans owed to the U.S. Department of Education. It does not apply to private student loans.
"If you have private student loans or a Perkins loan, contact them and communicate with them," Michelle Rhodes explained. She is the associate vice president for financial aid at Grand Valley State University.
"They might have forbearance or deferment options for you," said Rhodes. "I know at GVSU, specifically, we have a financial hardship option where we don't charge interest or make them make their payments on the Perkins loan."
The relief is good through December 31. Any balances and regular interest rates will show up January 1, 2021, unless the White House decides to extend it yet again.
For more information, go to the studentaid.gov website.
