Those with student loans have a bit longer to pay off their debt.
The federal student loan moratorium has been pushed back until August 31, 2022.
This extension means more than 43 million Americans can put off repaying their federal student loans even longer without any additional interest.
"To get this little sense of relief is nice however, I wish that they just cancel it instead of extending it like this."
For college students like Jasmine Dean, there's extra time to put off paying loans.
Before the moratorium, Dean paid $250 a month on her loans.
Since then she's using the money to take care of other responsibilities.
"That's a huge relief considering bills, gas, and groceries. Being able to use that 250 towards something else, definitely helps,” Dean added.
"It is as simple as they don't remember how much their payment is as simple as they don't know who their loan servicer is. And so we've oftentimes allocated funds elsewhere."
Yrefy managing partner, Mary Jo Lambert-Terry says borrowers in Louisiana have racked up $22.1 billion in student loan debt.
"On average, people have anywhere from 31,000 to 36,000, depending on the state that they're in, in average debt, which is usually pretty close to their rent payment and or the biggest debt next to a mortgage,” said Terry.
Before payments start again, Lambert suggests knowing your status through student aid.gov.
"You log in, and you can find out who your loan servicer is, you're going to want to update your profile. There are income-driven repayment programs, there are four in the federal program, which basically we'll take a look at how your household is changed, how your income has changed, and realistically how much you can afford to pay. The closer we get, the busier they're going to be in completing this documentation. And if we need to adjust these things, let's do them right now,” Terry added.
"There are some people in less fortunate situations that are very grateful for this. Again, I just hope that they come to a finalized decision on whether they're going to continue to extend it past August 31st or if they're just going to cancel it altogether,” said Dean.
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