When Do Student Loan Payments Resume?

After three and a half years of a pandemic-related payment pause, federal student loan bills resumed in October 2023, followed by the end of the White House on-ramp period in October 2024. If you haven’t started paying your student loan bills, you could face student loan delinquency or default.

One key exception: the 1 in 5 borrowers currently enrolled in the SAVE plan. The Education Department put these 8 million borrowers in an indefinite interest-free payment pause starting July 2024, following a series of lawsuits that have temporarily blocked SAVE. There’s no clear end date for the SAVE payment pause.

So, if you’re not on SAVE, your student loan bills are due. Here's what you need to know.

When are federal student loans due?

They’re due now. Federal student loans began accruing interest on Sept. 1, 2023, and most borrowers’ first bill after the pandemic pause was due in October 2023.

However, a temporary White House safety net, called the student loan on-ramp, shielded borrowers who didn't make full, on-time payments from student loan delinquency and default. Interest continued to build on loans during the on-ramp, however, increasing the amount these borrowers now owe.

"During this period, if you can pay your monthly bills, you should," President Joe Biden said in a June 2023 press conference. "But if you cannot, if you miss payments, this on-ramp temporarily removes the threat of default or having your credit harmed, which can hurt borrowers for years to come."

The on-ramp began Oct. 1, 2023, and expired on Sept. 30, 2024. Starting Oct. 1, 2024, skipping your student loan bills can result in delinquency or default — which can harm your credit score, cost you thousands in collections fees and lead to garnished wages and Social Security checks and more.

How to start repayment

Take these steps now to start repayment:

• Locate your student loan servicer. The company that manages your student loans may have changed since the pandemic payment pause. Find your current servicer by logging into your StudentAid.gov account. 

• Contact your servicer. Log in to your servicer’s website, or give them a call. Update your contact information. Ask how much you might owe under various repayment plans. Sign up for automatic payments; by doing so, you could qualify for a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount. 

• Do your own research. Use the Education Department’s loan simulator to estimate your payments under various repayment plans. When calling your servicer, be prepared. 

If you want to apply for an income-driven repayment plan, you must submit an application online or send a paper application to your servicer. Applications are currently not being processed, so expect lengthy delays.

» MORE: How to get student loan forgiveness in 2024

When are payments due if I’m on the SAVE plan?

Payments are not currently due for the roughly 8 million borrowers enrolled in the income-driven repayment plan SAVE. There’s no timeline yet for when the SAVE forbearance could end.

» MORE: What borrowers need to know about the SAVE lawsuits

SAVE borrowers won’t get automatic credit toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness or income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness during this time.

If you’re not pursuing loan forgiveness, consider making payments anyway during this SAVE forbearance. Since no interest is accruing on your loans, you could pay them off faster and spend less money overall.

But, if you are pursuing PSLF or IDR forgiveness, consider holding off on payments until the forbearance ends. The Education Department has not guaranteed that SAVE borrowers who make optional payments will get automatic forgiveness credits retroactively.

The Education Department has not shared any official routes to retroactively get IDR forgiveness credit while on the SAVE forbearance. If you’re working toward PSLF specifically, you can follow one of two official workarounds on studentaid.gov.