 TITLE: How to Get Student Loan Relief During the COVID-19 Crisis CONTENT: How the CARES Act Helps Federal Loan Borrowers\n----------------------------------------------\nSigned into law in late March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided roughly $2.2 trillion in relief for people and businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis.\nFor many student loan borrowers, that relief comes in the form of suspended payments through September 30, 2021. To qualify, you need to have direct loans or Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) that are held by the federal government.\nIf your loans are eligible, the benefit occurs automatically—no need to reach out to your loan servicer to opt in. As part of the stimulus package for federal student loan borrowers:\n*   Involuntary collections of student loan debt, including wage garnishments, Social Security garnishments and tax refund offsets, are suspended.\n*   Interest will not accrue during the suspension period.\n*   If you're on an income-driven repayment plan or working toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, your suspended payments will count toward the requirements of those programs.\n*   Suspended payments will be reported to the national credit bureaus as though they were on-time payments.\nUnfortunately, the stimulus package excludes roughly 12% of federal student loans, according to the Institute of College Access & Success. These exclusions include Perkins loans (which are campus-based) and older FFEL loans held by commercial lenders. In addition, it doesn't include private student loans, which make up almost 8% of all student loan debt in the U.S., according to data and analytics firm MeasureOne. END