President Biden will lead the Education Department to help about 41 million federal student loan borrowers by September. “Extending the exemptions provides much-needed short-term help to borrowers during a pandemic,” said Sarah Sattelmeyer, director of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Student Borrower Success Project. David Kamin, the new deputy director of Biden’s National Economic Council, confirmed that Biden supports Congress’s idea of eliminating the federal student debt of up to $10,000 per borrower in response to a pandemic. In March 2020, a moratorium on loan repayment was put in place: interest rates were set at zero and collection of federal student loan debt was suspended. President Biden will extend the freeze on student loan payments through September. A Pew survey conducted in August and September found that of those borrowers who said debt relief was being applied to them, about 40 percent did not know when their payments would resume. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer unveiled a plan that would allow the next president to pardon up to $50,000 in outstanding federal student loans per borrower. Many hope that this temporary relief for borrowers in the event of a pandemic will open the door to more permanent loan pardons. The survey also found that borrowers are struggling financially as a result of the pandemic, with nearly 6 in 10 borrowers with intermittent payments telling Pew that they would struggle to make their payments if they had to pay next month. With the extension of the repayment period to the next eight months, borrowers and credit intermediaries now have more time to prepare to start repaying. Prior to Biden’s expected executive order today, the exemption expires Jan. 1. In his campaign proposal, he outlined a number of changes related to loan repayment, including a $10,000 debt relief for national or community service students. Biden has yet to show interest in the plan. President Donald Trump and later Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have drafted a plan.