EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Starting Sunday, Oct. 1, millions of people across the country, including people in the Borderland, will have to start making payments again on their student loans.
Borrowers were given a series of pauses over the past three years during the COVID-19 pandemic to focus on health and family, but that ends next month.
“In the last three years, student-borrowers have seen a reprieve and having to not only make payments but also deal with collection efforts and certainly their 0% interest on the money that had been borrowed previously,” said Leslie Tayne, a financial attorney.
Undergraduate students at the University of El Paso at Texas said they are very worried.
“I stress about financial issues, but I do know that in the future I’m going to be paying them back sometime soon,” Ariana Bailon, a student said.
Tayne told KTSM borrowers should have already received their notices of when their payments are due and when.
“That certainly is sending shockwaves through the student loan borrowing community because now at this point, many are still struggling to meet their regular day-to-day financial obligations, along with the additional payment to the federal student loan,” Tayne said.
“My parents, I mean, they’re still paying back their loans to this day. So, it’s pretty heavy,” Aaren Flores, another student said.
“I feel like it’s very difficult considering the fact that a lot of people just don’t have any money, especially since we are a border city,” Bailon said.
Tayne reminds everyone that if the federal government shuts down on Saturday, borrowers will still be required to pay their federal student loans back.
To learn more about student loan repayments, click here.
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