As student loan debt statistics indicate, the cost of attending college comes with a hefty price tag for Americans. Since the pandemic hit, it’s also greatly affected many people’s ability to make monthly payments on their student loans.

Among the Class of 2019, 69% of college students took out student loans, graduating with an average debt of $29,900, which was a combination of both private and Federal debt. In addition, 14% of their parents took out an average of $37,200 in Federal Parent PLUS loans.

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With only a month into 2022, student loan debt has now reached the TRILLIONS, $1.71 trillion, to be exact. That staggering sum is spread out among about 44.7 million borrowers. $1.71 trillion is roughly $739 BILLION more than the total U.S. credit card debt. Clearly, student loan debt significantly exceeds credit card debt, a dubious distinction, but what can be done?

To help offset some of the burden on the short-term, the White House recently announced that it would extend the current moratorium on student loan payments until May 1st.

“Certainly, it’s been a great relief for a lot of people,” said Andrew Pentis, Senior writer, and student loan advisor for Lending Tree/Student Loan Hero. “The moratorium has now been extended a fifth time through May 1st and that has been great news for those borrowers who continue to need a few more months.”

As part of pandemic relief measures, monthly student loan payments were put on hold. The first moratorium was put into place in March 2020, when the Federal government decided to pause loan payments for millions of Federal student loan borrowers nationally. Interest rates were temporarily set to 0%, which translated into a penalty-free break from regular payments. This eliminated the negative impacts for those unable to make their payments, such as an adverse credit reports, wage garnishment, or being harassed by collection agents. Defaults were also halted.

The extra 90 days will provide much-needed relief to help offset pandemic-related financial hardships. Prior to the repayment moratorium, the national average for student loan payments was $300.

Even before the pandemic, 11.1% of student loans were 90 days or more delinquent or were in default. During COVID, it was speculated that the number of delinquencies and defaults were likely to increase, which prompted the freeze.

With regards to national student loan debt, Student Loan Hero evaluated data to determine the state rankings using metrics, such as how many borrowers there were, their average student loan balances, and their estimated monthly payments.

Hero’s most recent study shows that Alabama ranks No. 11, with an average Federal student loan debt balance of $37,354. Statewide, there are 600,000 borrowers with a total outstanding debt of $22 billion.

When comparing Madison County to the entire state, Madison County comes in above the both the Alabama state and the national average:

Madison County

Average student loan balance: $37,774
Average monthly student loan payment: $287

Statewide

Average student loan balance: $33,873
Average monthly student loan payment: $244

It is estimated, however, that Alabamians will ultimately save an average of $6,099 over the 25-month Federal student loan moratorium.

“There’s more than a half a million borrowers in the state of Alabama and they have an average monthly payment approaching $250 dollars,” said Pentis. “So, it’s very easy to imagine how this moratorium on payments has been beneficial to those borrowers. Because there will be $250 dollars, or in some cases, much more room in their budget every month.”

For more information, please visit here or at https://studentloanhero.com/featured/alabama-student-loans-refinance/.