Federal student loan payments resumed on October 1, 2023, after a pause that lasted nearly three and a half years.

The pause began in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government stopped requiring borrowers to make monthly payments, froze interest accrual, and halted collections on defaulted loans. That pause was extended multiple times over the following years. On October 1, 2023, the Department of Education ended the pause, and borrowers were required to resume making payments on their federal student loans.

If you have federal student loans, your payment obligation restarted on that date unless you were enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan with a $0 monthly payment, or unless you had already received loan forgiveness. Payments did not automatically resume — borrowers had to contact their loan servicer or log into their account to set up their payment plan and begin making payments again.

Key Takeaways

  • Federal student loan payments restarted on October 1, 2023, after being paused since March 2020.
  • Interest began accruing again on October 1, 2023, even if you had not yet made a payment.
  • You had to contact your loan servicer or set up your payment plan yourself — payments did not restart automatically.
  • Borrowers with income-driven repayment plans may have had their monthly payment recalculated when payments resumed.
  • If you missed payments after October 1, 2023, your loan could be reported to credit bureaus and sent to collections.

What happened to interest during the pause

During the payment pause from March 2020 through September 30, 2023, interest did not accrue on federal student loans. This meant that even though you were not making payments, your loan balance did not grow. When October 1, 2023 arrived and payments resumed, interest began accruing again at your loan's stated rate.

This reset was significant for borrowers with large balances or high interest rates. If you had been making payments during the pause, those payments went entirely toward principal rather than interest. Once payments resumed, your monthly payment was split between interest and principal again, which means more of each payment went toward interest and less toward reducing your balance.

How to restart your payment plan

You had to take action to restart payments — they did not happen automatically. The first step was to contact your loan servicer, the company that manages your loans and collects your payments. You can find your servicer by logging into studentaid.gov and viewing your loan details, or by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

Once you contacted your servicer, you could choose or confirm your repayment plan. If you were on an income-driven repayment plan before the pause, your monthly payment may have been recalculated based on your current income and family size. You then set up automatic payments through your servicer's website or by phone. Many servicers offered a small interest rate reduction (typically 0.25%) if you enrolled in automatic payments.

If you did not contact your servicer before October 1, 2023, you were still responsible for making payments. Missed payments were reported to credit bureaus and could damage your credit score. After 270 days of missed payments, your loan could be sent to the Department of Education's collections process.

Income-driven repayment plans and the restart

Borrowers on income-driven repayment plans — such as Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), or Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) — had their monthly payments recalculated when payments resumed. The Department of Education used your most recent tax return on file to determine your new payment amount. If your income had changed significantly since the pause began, your payment could be higher or lower than it was before March 2020.

If you had been on an income-driven plan with a $0 monthly payment before the pause, you may have had a $0 payment again after the restart, depending on your current income. However, you still had to contact your servicer to confirm your plan and ensure your account was set up correctly. Failing to do so could result in your loan being placed on a standard 10-year repayment plan with a much higher monthly payment.

What happened if you missed payments after the restart

Missed payments after October 1, 2023 had real consequences. After one missed payment, your loan servicer could report the delinquency to credit bureaus, which would lower your credit score. After three consecutive missed payments (90 days), your loan was considered in default for reporting purposes, though the formal default process took longer.

After 270 days of missed payments (roughly nine months), your loan was sent to the Department of Education's collections process. At that point, the government could garnish your wages, intercept your tax refund, or offset your Social Security benefits to recover the debt. You could also be sued for the unpaid balance, and the government could recover court costs and attorney fees from you.

If you were unable to make your payment, you had options. You could contact your servicer to discuss income-driven repayment, deferment, forbearance, or temporary payment reduction programs. These options could lower or pause your payments temporarily while you got back on your feet.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the restart

Borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) had their payment count affected by the pause. The Department of Education granted a temporary waiver that counted months during the pause toward the 120 payments required for forgiveness, even though borrowers were not making payments. This waiver ended on October 31, 2023.

After the waiver ended, only payments made after October 1, 2023 counted toward the 120-payment requirement. If you were pursuing PSLF, you needed to ensure you were making on-time payments after the restart and that you were working for a may have access to employer. You could check your payment count and PSLF progress on studentaid.gov.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get my payments paused again if I cannot afford them?

You cannot get a new payment pause like the one that ended in 2023. However, you can request forbearance or deferment, which temporarily pauses or reduces your payments. You can also switch to an income-driven repayment plan, which may lower your monthly payment based on your income. Contact your loan servicer to discuss your options.

What if I made extra payments during the pause?

Extra payments you made during the pause went toward your principal balance and reduced the amount you owe. You cannot get that money back. However, those payments did count toward your repayment plan and may have moved you closer to forgiveness if you were on an income-driven plan.

Do I have to make a payment in October 2023 if I just found out payments restarted?

Your first payment after the restart was due on November 1, 2023 (or the first business day after). If you missed that payment, you should contact your servicer immediately to set up a payment plan and discuss your options. The sooner you act, the less damage to your credit score.

What if my loan servicer changed during the pause?

Loan servicers do change, and some borrowers were transferred to new servicers during the pause. You can find your current servicer by logging into studentaid.gov. If you are unsure whether your servicer changed, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.