Interest will start accruing again on September 1, after rates were effectively set to 0% since March 2020 for federal student loans. Now, interest rates, which are fixed and vary by loan, will return to the same rate they were before the freeze.

For most borrowers, the first payment will be due sometime in October – but not everyone has the exact same due date.

Borrowers can expect to receive their bill, listing their payment amount and due date, at least 21 days beforehand.

Generally, borrowers can expect their monthly payment to be the same as it was before the pandemic pause. Unless a borrower made optional payments or other changes to their account, like consolidating their loans, federal student loans were essentially frozen in time.