Department of Education suspends student loan payments throughout COVID-19 outbreak

By Will Geiger

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut. Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University. Full Bio

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Updated: May 21st, 2020

On March 13th, President Trump announced that student loan interest would be waived during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to support people who were struggling financially at this time (you can see our original article here). At the time, there were minimal details about how this would be operationalized by the Department of Education. On March 20th, President Trump provided some more guidance on this and clarified that federal student loan payments would be suspended at this time.

How to suspend your student loan payments?

To suspend your federal student loans, you can go to your online federal student loan portal and request a forbearance. You can also call, but putting in the request online should be quicker. President Trump stated that the suspension would be for 60 days, but could be potentially longer if necessary.

What about private student loans or loans held by my college or university?

The Trump administration policy only applies to federal student loans. If you have borrowed private student loans or other types of loans, you should get in touch with the lender to see if they are able to offer assistance.