For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 16, 2021

Contact: Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today shared guidance for student loan borrowers about the upcoming restart of student loan payments and opportunities to apply for public service loan forgiveness. Payments, which were paused in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are set to restart on February 1, 2022.

“Student borrowers have navigated so many challenges over the past two years. As the federal government restarts student loan payments early next year, I want to make sure that you have the information necessary to ensure a smooth transition to repayment and avoid getting scammed,” said Attorney General Stein. “Please take action to avoid penalties. As your attorney general, I’ll continue to do everything in my power to protect borrowers.”

Student loan borrowers should prepare for the restart in loan payments by following these tips:

• Update your contact information with your loan servicer and at StudentAid.gov.
• Review the requirements for loan forgiveness programs, including the recent PSLF improvements. While many of the reforms will be automatic, some borrowers will need to take steps to benefit. Learn more about these PSLF improvements at StudentAid.gov/pslfwaiver.
• Use the federal government’s loan simulator tool to ensure you are on the best repayment plan.
• If you have questions or concerns about your loans, contact your student loan servicer for free help.
• Be on the lookout for student loan scams, and contact our office if you believe you may have been a victim of a scam.

Attorney General Stein also encouraged student loan borrowers who work in public service to explore opportunities to get prior loan payments counted toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by applying for the program before Oct. 31, 2022. After Attorney General Stein wrote to the U.S. Department of Education in September, the department released new improvements to the PSLF program to ensure loan forgiveness becomes a reality for more public servants.

“I’m pleased that the Department of Education acted on my call to fix its deeply-flawed Public Service Loan Forgiveness program,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “The federal government made promises to our nation’s public servants about loan relief, and it needs to keep its word. In addition to these needed reforms, we also need to expand the definition of public service to include farmers, who are the backbone of agriculture.”

More on Attorney General Stein’s work to protect student loan borrowers:

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