For one thing: the first year after payments restart, borrowers who fall behind won’t be penalized.

Some of those who owe the least could be among the most affected.

It’s still a relatively rare benefit: About 8% of employers in the country offer help with student loan debt.

A debt ceiling deal has been made, and student loan borrowers will have to start making payments again later this summer.

“I wanted to have something that I could easily add on to my current workload,” says chemist April Oliver of Bozeman, Montana.

Discretionary spending may decline as people add those payments back into their budgets.

U.S. borrowers hold a collective $1.8 trillion in both public and private student loans.

At issue is if the president has the authority to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt for some 43 million borrowers.

In 2022, consumer credit increased 7.8% from the year before. But in December, the growth in borrowing decelerated.

In the past, not even one student borrower in 100 who declared bankruptcy had student loans discharged.