Student Loans Have Restarted. What Should I Do?

According to the Education Data Initiative, more than 43 million borrowers have federal student loan debt. On Oct. 1, people nationwide started repaying their student loans after nearly four years of a pause from the COVID-19 pandemic. If that is you, here are some tips on how to manage your financial situation as federal student loans resume.

• Understand your situation. Student loans can be confusing as people may have a variety of federal, private, subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans. It’s important that you know what kind of loans you have and who your loan service provider is, and to set up a username and password to access your account. This will allow you to also make changes to your information. Since loans were paused at the start of the pandemic in March of 2020, many people have changed addresses, jobs, or email addresses. By ensuring your loan provider knows your current information, it will ensure you receive proper and timely communications. Once you understand your personal situation, it may help you feel more confident as you repay.
• Examine your current expenses. Federal student loans have not been in people’s monthly budgets for years. This can be stressful as it may require some changes in your expenses. It’s a good idea to look at your current budget, which you may not have revisited in a while, to see if there are cheaper solutions to your expenses. You might not even be aware of recurring payments that you don’t need, like a gym membership you don’t use or your multiple streaming platforms. There are many options out there for better deals on your insurance, phone, or internet. Any place you can free up money will help you handle student loan payments without throwing off your budget too much.