<div class="edu-card" data-widget-id="1" data-cy="edu-card"> <div class="edu-card-banner" data-cy="edu-card-banner"> Advertisement </div> <div class="edu-card-container" data-cy="edu-card-container"> <div class="edu-card-content" data-cy="edu-card-content"> <div class="edu-card-title" data-cy="edu-card-title"> <h1 class="edu-card-title-heading" data-cy="edu-card-title-heading"> UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA </h1> <p class="edu-card-title-subheading" data-cy="edu-card-title-subheading"> STEM-designated. Tar Heel ROI. No compromises. </p> </div> <div class="edu-card-content-description" data-cy="edu-card-content-description"> <div class="edu-card-content-description-content"> <p>UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA is designed for experienced professionals looking to take their career to the next level. Students have access to lifelong career benefits and a global network of 51,000+ business school alumni. Earn your MBA online in as few as 18 months or up to three years. MBA Fellowships Available.</p> </div> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore"> <input type="checkbox" id="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-1" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input" /> <label for="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-1" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label"> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label-arrow"></span> </label> </span> </div> <a class="edu-card-content-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinemba.unc.edu/requestinfo/index/">Learn More</a> <span class="edu-card-content-caption"> </span> </div> <div class="edu-card-action" data-cy="edu-card-action"> <picture class="edu-card-picture" data-cy="edu-card-picture"> <img src="https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/UNC2UadCURRENT.png?w=250&amp;h=165" class="" alt=""> <span class="edu-card-picture-label"> </span> </picture> <div class="edu-card-action-cta" data-cy="edu-card-action-cta"> <a class="edu-card-action-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinemba.unc.edu/requestinfo/index/">Learn More</a> <span class="edu-card-action-caption"> </span> </div> </div> </div></div><script> function checkWidgets() { document.querySelectorAll('.edu-card-content-description-content').forEach((content) => { const readMoreBtn = content.nextElementSibling; if (!readMoreBtn) { return; } if (content && content.clientHeight === content.scrollHeight) { readMoreBtn.style.display = 'none'; } else { delete readMoreBtn.style.removeProperty('display'); } }) } window.removeEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); window.addEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); checkWidgets();</script>

<div class="edu-card" data-widget-id="71" data-cy="edu-card"> <div class="edu-card-banner" data-cy="edu-card-banner"> Advertisement </div> <div class="edu-card-container" data-cy="edu-card-container"> <div class="edu-card-content" data-cy="edu-card-content"> <div class="edu-card-title" data-cy="edu-card-title"> <h1 class="edu-card-title-heading" data-cy="edu-card-title-heading"> The Online MBA From Rice Business </h1> <p class="edu-card-title-subheading" data-cy="edu-card-title-subheading"> Rethink Your Approach to Business </p> </div> <div class="edu-card-content-description" data-cy="edu-card-content-description"> <div class="edu-card-content-description-content"> <p>GMAT waivers are available for the online MBA from Rice Business, ranked a Top-20 Online MBA by U.S. News & World Report. Ranked #1 in graduate entrepreneurship in the U.S. by the Princeton Review for 2024, aspiring entrepreneurs can earn their MBA in as few as 24 months.</p> </div> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore"> <input type="checkbox" id="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-71" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input" /> <label for="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-71" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label"> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label-arrow"></span> </label> </span> </div> <a class="edu-card-content-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinebusiness.rice.edu/requestinfo/index/">Learn More</a> <span class="edu-card-content-caption"> </span> </div> <div class="edu-card-action" data-cy="edu-card-action"> <picture class="edu-card-picture" data-cy="edu-card-picture"> <img src="https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rice2UadCURRENT.png?w=250&amp;h=165" class="" alt=""> <span class="edu-card-picture-label"> </span> </picture> <div class="edu-card-action-cta" data-cy="edu-card-action-cta"> <a class="edu-card-action-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinebusiness.rice.edu/requestinfo/index/">Learn More</a> <span class="edu-card-action-caption"> </span> </div> </div> </div></div><script> function checkWidgets() { document.querySelectorAll('.edu-card-content-description-content').forEach((content) => { const readMoreBtn = content.nextElementSibling; if (!readMoreBtn) { return; } if (content && content.clientHeight === content.scrollHeight) { readMoreBtn.style.display = 'none'; } else { delete readMoreBtn.style.removeProperty('display'); } }) } window.removeEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); window.addEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); checkWidgets();</script>

<div class="edu-card" data-widget-id="2" data-cy="edu-card"> <div class="edu-card-banner" data-cy="edu-card-banner"> Advertisement </div> <div class="edu-card-container" data-cy="edu-card-container"> <div class="edu-card-content" data-cy="edu-card-content"> <div class="edu-card-title" data-cy="edu-card-title"> <h1 class="edu-card-title-heading" data-cy="edu-card-title-heading"> UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA </h1> <p class="edu-card-title-subheading" data-cy="edu-card-title-subheading"> STEM-designated. Tar Heel ROI. No compromises. </p> </div> <div class="edu-card-content-description" data-cy="edu-card-content-description"> <div class="edu-card-content-description-content"> <p>UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA is designed for experienced professionals looking to take their career to the next level. Students have access to lifelong career benefits and a global network of 51,000+ business school alumni. Earn your MBA online in as few as 18 months or up to three years. MBA Fellowships Available.</p> </div> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore"> <input type="checkbox" id="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-2" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input" /> <label for="edu-card-content-description-readmore-input-2" class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label"> <span class="edu-card-content-description-readmore-label-arrow"></span> </label> </span> </div> <a class="edu-card-content-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinemba.unc.edu/requestinfo/index/">Visit Website</a> <span class="edu-card-content-caption"> </span> </div> <div class="edu-card-action" data-cy="edu-card-action"> <picture class="edu-card-picture" data-cy="edu-card-picture"> <img src="https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/UNC2UadCURRENT.png?w=250&amp;h=165" class="" alt=""> <span class="edu-card-picture-label"> </span> </picture> <div class="edu-card-action-cta" data-cy="edu-card-action-cta"> <a class="edu-card-action-button" target="_blank" href="https://onlinemba.unc.edu/requestinfo/index/">Visit Website</a> <span class="edu-card-action-caption"> </span> </div> </div> </div></div><script> function checkWidgets() { document.querySelectorAll('.edu-card-content-description-content').forEach((content) => { const readMoreBtn = content.nextElementSibling; if (!readMoreBtn) { return; } if (content && content.clientHeight === content.scrollHeight) { readMoreBtn.style.display = 'none'; } else { delete readMoreBtn.style.removeProperty('display'); } }) } window.removeEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); window.addEventListener('resize', checkWidgets); checkWidgets();</script>

cat_Other

Low Intent

ptype_Explainer

ptype_News

Sydney Lake

<p>Payments on federal student loans have been on pause for nearly two years to give borrowers a financial break during the pandemic. After several extensions, though, borrowers will be on the hook to start making <a href="https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2021/12/22/plot-twist-biden-administration-to-extend-the-student-loan-payment-freeze-until-may-1/">payments again in less than 100 days</a>. Currently, there are about 43 million federal student loan borrowers who hold a collective <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/portfolio" target="_blank">$1.6 trillion federal student loan debt</a>, according to the Federal Student Aid office.</p><div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall">



<p>“It’s important to remember that the payment pause is a response to a specific emergency and not a panacea,” Eileen Connor, director for the <a href="https://predatorystudentlending.org/about-the-project/">Harvard Law School’s Project on Predatory Student Lending</a>, tells <em>Fortune. </em>“Pausing repayment on federal student loans—and preventing interest from accumulating—is humane.”</p>



<p>In late December, President Joe Biden extended the forbearance period from Jan. 31 to May 1 as “millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” Biden <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHOoraAWQBAmddZ.png">said in a statement</a>. This extension came as a surprise since the January date had been deemed as the final deadline, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed earlier that month. </p>



<p>As we near the new May 1 deadline, advocates and borrowers <a href="https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2022/01/05/a-forever-student-loan-payment-pause-pressure-is-mounting-on-biden/">question whether that date will actually mark the end of the forbearance</a> period since it’s now been extended six times.</p>



<p>“Anything is possible at this point given the number of previous extensions and growing political pressure from progressives during an election year,” <a href="https://elps.utk.edu/people/robert-kelchen/">Robert Kelchen</a>, higher education professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, tells <em>Fortune</em>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-could-cause-another-extension">What could cause another extension</h2>



<p><a href="https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2022/01/28/biden-can-cancel-up-to-50k-in-student-loan-debt-says-group-of-85-democratic-lawmakers/">Top Democrats</a> have been some of the loudest voices calling for further student loan forbearance—and even debt cancellation. Travis Hornsby, founder of <a href="https://www.studentloanplanner.com/">Student Loan Planner</a>, says that political considerations could cause the administration to extend the pause on student loan forbearance into 2023. An additional extension would require a balance of <a href="https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2022/01/03/how-does-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-impact-borrowers-and-the-economy/">economic considerations</a>, however. </p>



<p>The forbearance extension until May 1, Hornsby says, elicited pushback from economists such as <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/people/summers-lawrence/">Larry Summers</a>, former President Barack Obama’s head economic adviser. </p>



<p>“Judged purely in terms of economic impacts, the [a]dministration’s decision to extend student loan moratorium is highly problematic,” <a href="https://twitter.com/LHSummers/status/1474369232406200326?s=20&amp;t=y8kOpXD1dOVg4XlgKdoczA">Summers tweeted</a> on Dec. 24, 2021. </p>



<p>Biden could decide to extend forbearance yet again if he decides doing so will help his party win the midterm elections, Hornsby says. Otherwise, another virus wave or if the economy were to be “pulled back significantly” could spark a need for further extension, he adds. </p>



<p>“Continuing to suspend student loan payments provides fodder for critics to say that the economy is not strong and the pandemic is not over,” Kelchen says. “My best guess is that student loan payments resume on May 1 barring an unexpected new wave of the pandemic, but I would put the chances of resuming at only about 70%.”</p>



<p>Some borrowers are also holding out hope on the possibility that their loans could be canceled outright since <a href="https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2022/01/04/biden-has-not-kept-pledge-to-immediately-cancel-student-loan-debt/">Biden campaigned on forgiving $10,000 per borrower</a>. While Biden created that expectation as a candidate and as president hasn’t done anything to dispel that idea, Connor says, it’s still difficult to predict what will happen.</p>



<p>“This adds to borrower confusion, especially for our clients, who are still waiting for their fraudulent loans to be canceled,” Connor adds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-borrowers-should-do">What borrowers should do</h2>



<p>There’s no true indication that the Biden administration is considering another extension beyond May 1 at this point, <a href="https://minsky-law.com/">Adam S. Minsky</a>, a student loan lawyer, tells <em>Fortune. </em></p>



<p>That being said, “anything is possible—last year, the administration repeatedly characterized the extension to Jan. 31, 2022 as the ‘final’ extension, only to extend it yet again at the last minute,” Minsky says. </p>



<p>But because there’s still so much that remains unknown, borrowers should prepare to resume payments in May, student loan experts agree. </p>



<p>“I would not advise people to plan based on an assumption that there will be an extension of the program,” Bruce McClary, senior vice president of communications for the <a href="https://www.nfcc.org/">National Foundation for Credit Counseling</a> (NFCC), tells <em>Fortune. </em>“The best advice for student loan borrowers who are taking full advantage of the forbearance period is to plan for a resumption of payments in May.”</p>



<p><em>See how the schools you’re considering landed in Fortune’s rankings of the best <a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/business-analytics/masters/rankings/best-online-masters-in-business-analytics/" rel="noreferrer noopener">business analytics programs</a></em>,<em><a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/data-science/masters/rankings/best-online-masters-in-data-science/" rel="noreferrer noopener"> data science programs</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/business/mba/rankings/best-parttime-mba-programs-in-2022/" rel="noreferrer noopener">part-time</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/business/mba/rankings/best-executive-mba-programs-in-2021/" rel="noreferrer noopener">executive</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/business/mba/rankings/best-mba-programs/" rel="noreferrer noopener"> full-time</a></em>,<em> and <a target="_blank" href="https://fortune.com/education/business/mba/rankings/best-online-mba-programs/" rel="noreferrer noopener">online</a> MBA programs.</em></p>
</div>

As we near the May 1 deadline, advocates and borrowers question whether that will actually be the end of the forbearance period.

Could student loan payments be frozen until 2023? ‘Anything is possible,’ experts say

F-Search

Education

Education Articles

Jasmine Suarez

Business

Fortune earns a commission for purchases made from affiliate partners via some links on our site; other links are not affiliate partner links. <a href='/affiliate-disclosure/'>Click here</a> to read the full Fortune advertiser disclosure and how we earn commissions.

We have independently evaluated the products and services below. We may earn affiliate revenue from links in the content.

Fortune Editors

Fortune Education is designed to be your guide to navigating this new, rich and somewhat overwhelming world of education. Our team of experienced editors is committed to scouring the universe of online offerings in order to rank, rate, provide comparisons and recommend the right solutions for you and your career.

Fortune Education

Uncategorized

homepage

articles

Articles Hub

By Region

By State

By Cost

Career Hub

Health and Wellness

Tech

EDUCATION

COULD STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS BE FROZEN UNTIL 2023? ‘ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE,’ EXPERTS SAY

Could student loan payments be frozen until 2023? ‘Anything is possible,’ experts say | Fortune Education

Rich Griset

10 free data analytics courses you can take online

https://fortune.com/education/articles/free-data-analytics-courses/?itm_source=parsely-api

Preston Fore

2024 real estate school review: AceableAgent

https://fortune.com/education/articles/real-estate-school-review-aceableagent/?itm_source=parsely-api

Brad Haft

Best health coach certifications for 2024

https://fortune.com/education/articles/best-health-coach-certifications/?itm_source=parsely-api

Brit Morse

A law associate making $300,000 a year at Skadden Arps quit over the firm’s deal with Donald Trump

/article/rachel-cohen-making-300k-year-law-associate-skadden-arps-quit-protest-firms-deal-trump/

Get ready to pay more than $2,000 for a new iPhone: Experts say Trump’s 125% tariff on China is a ‘complete disaster for Apple’ akin to ‘Armageddon’

/2025/04/10/apple-iphone-16-price-complete-disaster-china-trump-tariffs/

It’s about to get a lot harder for job seekers as tariffs are set to make the hiring landscape even more daunting

/2025/04/07/trump-tariffs-labor-market-more-challenging-job-seekers-economists-say/

This company does peer performance reviews—And then lets everyone read each other’s evaluations

/2025/03/24/performance-review-process-company-allows-all-workers-read-garner-health-workplace-culture/

2024 health coach certification review: Catalyst Coaching Institute

/education/articles/health-coach-certification-review-catalyst-coaching-institute/

A guide to a nurse’s salary: Broken down by all 50 states and industry type

/education/careers/nurse-salary/

2024 health coach certification review: Institute for Integrative Nutrition

/education/articles/health-coach-certification-review-institute-for-integrative-nutrition/

10 high-paying public health jobs right now

/education/careers/public-health-jobs/

Jason Del Rey

Is eBay actually sexy again as the ecommerce old-timer’s stock surges to an all-time high?

/2025/07/31/ebay-earnings-live-sports-cards-trading-pokemon/

Erik German

Meet the CIA-backed venture fund behind Palantir, Anduril—and a spy tool that might be on your phone

/2025/07/29/in-q-tel-cia-venture-capital-palantir-anduril/

Dana Hull

Kiel Porter

Bloomberg

Tesla engineering VP Moravy says company in ‘big swing moment’

/2025/07/27/tesla-engineering-vp-lars-moravy-big-swing-moment-musk-robotaxi-optimus-semi/

Christiaan Hetzner

Volkswagen seeks audience with Trump, dangling more than $10 billion in U.S. investments in exchange for tariff exemptions

/2025/07/25/volkswagen-trump-tariffs-exemptions/

Whether you’ve just completed your undergraduate degree or you are a professional with years of experience, Fortune is here to guide you on the next step of your educational journey.

Could student loan payments be frozen until 2023? ‘Anything is possible,’ experts say

About the Contributors

Top Articles

10 free data analytics courses you can take online

2024 real estate school review: AceableAgent

Best health coach certifications for 2024

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA