After an unprecedented three-year timeout on federal student loan payments because of the pandemic, millions of borrowers began repaying their debt when billing resumed late last year.
That reality, along with court decisions that regularly upend the rules, has complicated the government’s efforts to restart its system for collecting the $1.6 trillion it is owed.
At the end of March, six months after the hiatus ended, nearly 20 million borrowers were making their payments as scheduled.
But almost 19 million were not, leaving their accounts delinquent, in default or still on pause, according to the latest Education Department data.
“The nonpayment rate really is emblematic of a system that’s not doing its job,” said Persis Yu, the managing counsel for the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group.
Persons:
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Organizations:
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