Student loan payments to resume soon. Here’s the timeline to keep in mind.

Are you one of the 43 million Americans with federal student loan debt? If so, get ready to start paying again. The pause on federal student loan payments that began in March 2020 is coming to an end.

“Congress recently passed a law preventing further extensions of the payment pause,” the U.S. Department of Education said. “Student loan interest will resume starting on Sept. 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October. We will notify borrowers well before payments restart.”

What You Need to Know

• Interest will start accruing on September 1, 2023
• You won’t need to make payments until October
• The pause on federal student loan payments was first ordered by then-president Donald Trump in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• The pause has been extended multiple times by both the Trump and Biden administrations
• The Biden administration is prohibited from extending the pause again due to a recent bipartisan deal that suspended the U.S. government’s borrowing limit

There has been some confusion over exactly when student loan payments would resume. The Biden administration previously said that the payment freeze would end either 60 days after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision on the so-called “forgiveness” plan, or 60 days after June 30, whichever came first. However, the debt-ceiling deal mandates that the student loan payment restart 60 days after June 30, or August 29.

It’s important to note that this clarification comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to give its blessing to the Biden administration’s attempt to “forgive” hundreds of billions of dollars of debt. At the core of the legal challenge is the question of whether President Joe Biden has the authority to implement his $400 billion plan, which would erase up to $10,000 in student loan debt for every borrower who earns less than $125,000 per year while canceling up to $20,000 for each Pell Grant recipient who meets that income standard.

Stay tuned for updates on this ongoing issue.