For three years, millions of Americans haven’t had to worry too much about their student loan debt. But that financial anxiety is rising to the surface as the return of payments looms in September.

With household budgets already tight, there is confusion and concern across the US about how people are going to afford the payments. Many are expected to default, while others are resigned to delaying home purchases, falling behind on other bills or making other drastic budget cuts, like shelving plans to help siblings pay for college.

For now, some are putting life decisions on hold as they await a Supreme Court ruling on President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan, which would forgive up to $20,000 in loans per person. Ally Rooker, a 30-year-old in Detroit with $80,000 in federal loans, is aiming to buy a house and struggling to figure out how much she can afford. She and her partner would be eligible for a combined $30,000 in forgiveness if the plan goes ahead.

Also, her loan servicer changed during the pandemic and she’s not sure how much she’ll have to pay when monthly bills resume — another unknown many borrowers are facing since some providers ended their contracts with the federal government during the pandemic. Although Rooker works a full-time job in public health, she’s started building a content-creation side hustle around nail care on TikTok to pad her income.

“It's been stressful and hard to keep up with,” she said about the student loan situation. “I feel pretty confident I can put the payment in my budget, but there’s so much uncertainty.”

Jeff Sexton in Florida paid down his $13,000 student loan balance during the pandemic. When he heard about the forgiveness plan, he requested a refund for $10,000, through a provision of the CARES Act that allows people to ask for refunds on pandemic-era payments. He received the funds, but then came legal challenges that put forgiveness in jeopardy. He’s kept the sum stashed in a high-yield savings account, waiting to see if he’ll need to send it back.

“It’s all politics as usual,” said the 40-year-old, who works in tech. “I’m just waiting for the official word.”

Debt relief would be a gamechanger for many. Millennials and members of Gen Z are more likely than other generations to use the one-time debt forgiveness to help them save for a home purchase, according to a Federal Reserve report last month. The majority of respondents said they would use the money to pay off other debt.

Budget Crunch
Whether or not the Supreme Court allows the forgiveness plan to proceed, making ends meet will be a challenge for many borrowers once payments resume given the rising costs of rent and everyday goods. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, more than one in 13 student loan borrowers are currently behind on their other payment obligations, and one in five have risk factors that suggest they could struggle when scheduled payments resume.

Those stretched budgets will have trickle-down effects as well, impacting parents saving for their kids’ future educations and people helping family members pay their bills.

Mary-Pat Hector, chief executive officer of Rise, a student-advocacy group, graduated in 2019 with $63,000 in debt. The freeze didn’t just impact her day-to-day finances — it gave her mother, who had taken out Parent PLUS loans, breathing room as well. Hector is eligible for $20,000 in loan forgiveness, and her mother would see $10,000 of her balance wiped away. Forgiveness would mean the difference between helping her other siblings attend college or not, she said.

“There’s that misconception that a lot of people don’t understand — they’re like, ‘Oh, we're helping rich people stay rich,’” Hector said of the forgiveness plan. Borrowers of color and groups without generational wealth frequently rely on student loans and other funding to go to college, and often have to support family members while they pay down their debt, she added.

Arianna Scasino in Connecticut is also worried about her budget. Since she graduated in May 2021, she’s one of the millions of students who have yet to face a required monthly bill. Things were going pretty well until February, when she got laid off from her job in digital marketing.

The 26-year-old — who has about $50,000 in federal loans and would be eligible for $20,000 in forgiveness — expects to pay about $200 a month when bills resume. That’s adding even more stress as she looks for a new job and tries to save enough to move out of her parents’ house.

“Now I’m like, ‘Will I ever be able to move out?’” she said. “All my friends and I talk about how it is so overwhelming. You’re 18 and told you have to go to college and then you sign your life away.”

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.