How the stimulus package affects federal student loans

The average person in North Carolina owes more than $36,000 in student loans and nearly 17% haven't made a payment for 90 days or more.

That was before the pandemic hit, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

About 1.2 million people are in student loan debt totaling $44 billion in North Carolina.

Student loan relief is part of President Donald Trump’s $2.2 trillion stimulus package.

It suspends all payments for six months interest free from March 30 to Sept. 30th.

That is only for federally backed student loans.

Private loans should be dealt with through the bank they are associated with.

Federal student loans will automatically go into forbearance.

If enrolled with auto-draft, which automatically pays the loan, the withdrawals will stop.

Action 9’s Jason Stoogenke said if you can afford to make payments then you should because there are no interest payments. He reminds you to contact the loan servicer to suggest your plans to continue to pay, because it will automatically go into forbearance.

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