Student loan repayments are back. Here’s what that could mean for the economy

The Trump and Biden administrations enacted and then expanded a pandemic-related pause for about 44 million borrowers by freezing their accounts and restricting interest accumulation. But Congress ruled, as part of the debt ceiling package that it passed in June, that the relief program can no longer be extended. Payments resumed on October 1 for the first time since March 2020.

Before the pandemic, the federal government was collecting about $5.8 billion in payments each month. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal estimated that the restart could pull more than $100 billion from consumers’ wallets this year alone.

Before the Bell spoke with Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, to talk about what that could mean for the economy.