Debt & Savings
Student-Loan Borrowers Balk as Bills Come Due: ‘I'm Really Torn’
The end of a one-year leniency period means missed bills will now hurt credit scores.
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The clock is ticking on a roughly $1.6 trillion pile of student loans.
A grace period for federal borrowers ended this week, kicking off a countdown to real financial consequences for those behind on their bills. The moment caps a forbearance odyssey that stretches to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when payments were initially paused by the Trump administration as part of a broad effort to stabilize the economy.