The pause on federal student loan payments ended in October 2023, but many of the 43 million borrowers who owe a collective $1.7 trillion are still struggling or outright refusing to submit payments.
In fact, the majority (60 percent) of student loan borrowers have missed payments since the pause ended, including 35 percent who have made some payments and 25 percent who haven’t made any payments, according to a report from Intelligent.com.
Among borrowers who haven’t made any payments, nearly 7 in 10 (69 percent) say they can’t afford to do so. Another 12 percent of borrowers who haven’t made a payment say they are utilizing the Biden administration’s “on-ramp” to student loan repayment, in which borrowers won’t face penalties for missed payments until September 2024.
More than one-third (36 percent) of borrowers who haven’t made any payments say they plan to resume payments as soon as possible, with the same number saying they are unsure when they’ll resume payments.
However, many borrowers are currently refusing or never plan to submit student loan payments.
Nearly 1 in 10 (9 percent) student loan borrowers who haven’t made payments say they are intentionally boycotting them to pressure the federal government into student loan debt cancellation, while 11 percent say they never plan to resume paying student loans at all.
Among the 9 percent of borrowers boycotting payments, 86 percent say it’s “very” or “somewhat” likely that refusing payments will bring attention to the student loan debt crisis. Nearly half (44 percent) believe boycotting payments will lead to the cancellation of some federal student loan debt.
Overall, 9 percent of borrowers say they don’t know how to submit payments and 7 percent say they were unaware the pause on federal student loan payments ended.
For borrowers who have resumed making student loan payments, they are in near unanimous agreement about one thing: It hasn’t been easy. A whopping 94 percent of borrowers who have resumed payments say it has been financially challenging for them, according to the report.
Nearly 3 of 5 (58 percent) borrowers have reduced spending on entertainment and leisure while more than half (52 percent) are working more hours at their primary job or have started a second job to afford payments. About 2 of 5 (39 percent) borrowers say they are saving less money while 37 percent say they are using their savings to pay their student loans.
Intelligent.com conducted its report by surveying 1,000 respondents online on Jan. 5. All participants were screened to ensure they currently have federal student loan debt, and the age of all respondents was balanced to reflect overall demographics of student loan borrowers, according to the report methodology.
