Coronavirus stimulus bill: 7 ways student loan borrowers benefit

This post has been updated to add information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Congress has just passed the the most expensive measure in American history in response to the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

The $2.2 trillion stimulus package is intended to help the U.S. economy through the pandemic as states are shutdown and jobless claims spike.

For more than 44 million borrowers with $1.5 trillion in outstanding student debt, Congress is offering relief on top of what the White House and the Education Department have already announced.

Experts were not impressed. Here are the details:

A woman wears a protective face mask as students prepare for Spring Break and an extended period of online classes due to coronavirus at Syracuse University, New York, U.S., March 12, 2020. Picture taken March 12, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Maranie Staab)
A woman wears a protective face mask as students prepare for Spring Break and an extended period of online classes due to coronavirus at Syracuse University, New York, U.S., March 12, 2020. Picture taken March 12, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Maranie Staab)

The good news

1) Borrowers with federally-owned student debt don’t have to pay them through September 30 (six months) as they’re suspended. This includes loans to parents.

2) Interest is also suspended until Sept 30, 2020.

3) If you’re on a forgiveness program, like PSLF, your suspended payments for these months will still count.

Editor's note: Several readers noted that FedLoan, the loan servicer for public servants in the PSLF program, did not update its website to reflect this initiative. However, FedLoan confirmed with Yahoo Finance that the suspended payments will count towards forgiveness.

4) Credit reporting agencies will see suspended payments as regularly rescheduled payments.

5) If a borrower has defaulted on their student loans, debt collection is suspended (their wages will not be garnished, tax refund will not be reduced, etc).

The government is also returning $1.8 billion in refunds to about 830,000 student loan borrowers who had defaulted on their loans and went through debt collection since the national emergency was declared.

6) If your employer pays your student loan payments, they can do it tax-free up to January 1, 2021 for up to $5,250 annually.

“I believe this is a start in the right direction, but not nearly enough,” Experience Your Wealth’s Jake Northrup told Yahoo Finance. “With the cost of education continuing to rise and more employers requiring advanced degrees, I believe this income exclusion needs to be permanent so more employers can help their employees pay down their student loan balances.”

7) All federal student loans have a 0% interest rate for at least 60 days starting March 13 — hence penalty-free forbearance is an option for a 60-day period, if you ask your servicer.

(Graphic: David Foster)
(Graphic: David Foster)

‘Today’s relief package shows how little we have learned’

At the same time, consumer advocates were not pleased with the package.

“Lawmakers’ failed response to the last financial meltdown led directly to our current student debt crisis,” former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Seth Frotman, said in a statement. “Today’s relief package shows how little we have learned in the past decade. Unless the Trump Administration and Congress take significant, comprehensive additional steps on behalf of the tens of millions of American families with student loans, the next wave of the student debt crisis will be even more devastating."