Borrowers can take action to prevent student loan delinquencies from rising to pre-pandemic levels when payments resume.

After a pause of over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, federal student loan payments are set to resume in May.

According to a recent blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, borrowers might not be ready to restart payments and could therefore fall behind on their loans.

According to Lowell Ricketts, a data scientist for the Institute for Economic Equity at the bank and author of the blog post, serious delinquency rates for student debt could increase from their current lows to their previous highs, with 10% or more of the debt being past due.

The blog post stated that resuming payments will have varying effects on borrowers and put the greatest strain on those with the heaviest debts, typically low-income workers and people of color.

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According to data from the National Center for Economic Statistics, the average student loan balance for Black students one year following graduation in 2016 was $42,746, compared to $34,622 for white students. As a result, the resumption of student loan repayments will have a greater impact on the budgets of Black students than white students.

Experts worry that restarting student loan payments could increase delinquencies as people have become accustomed to not paying and are now facing higher inflation that's putting a strain on their budgets.

Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, stated that she believes there will be higher delinquency and default rates post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic.

What borrowers can do now

The pause on federal student loan payments and interest may not end in May, as the White House chief of staff Ron Klain stated in a recent interview that the Biden administration is considering extending the pause.

Mayotta advises borrowers to prepare for payments to restart sooner and use that time to rework their budgets and contact their lenders. Here are four things borrowers should do now.

1. Some federal student loan borrowers may have a different loan servicer than they did before the pandemic, as a few major servicers have decided not to renew their contracts with the government. To determine if this applies to you, log into your account at Studentaid.gov to find out who is currently servicing your loans.
2. Open all communications from your servicer to ensure you don't miss important information about payment deadlines or what you need to do if you want to switch payment plans.
3. Mayotte advised borrowers to ensure they know their monthly loan payments as payments come due, and to ensure that payment fits their budget. She also suggested that borrowers may be able to pay more now than they were previously, which could help them pay the least amount of money to their loans over time. Mayotte emphasized that there is no penalty for paying more than what is expected monthly.
4. While some individuals may not be able to make the same payments as before the pandemic, borrowers should consider an income-driven repayment plan. This option can lower their monthly payment amount and, in some cases, could even be zero. It is generally a better choice than deferring loans, putting them in forbearance, or not paying, which will make you delinquent. If you need to switch plans, send in the paperwork as soon as possible. With 45 million student loan borrowers entering repayment at the same time, the system could become overwhelmed. Mayotte expects longer call wait times or a longer period for paperwork processing.

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