Education Department extends student loan autopay deadline

The U.S. Department of Education has extended the deadline for eligible federal student-loan borrowers to enroll in automatic payments and receive a temporary 1-percentage-point interest-rate reduction, moving the cutoff to Dec. 31, 2026. Borrowers who enroll by then, as well as those already enrolled, can receive the reduced rate through June 30, 2028, the department said. The Sept. 29 extension supersedes the Sept. 30 deadline reported earlier. The reduction is intended to encourage borrowers to make payments on time, according to the department. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said nearly 2 million borrowers had enrolled since the benefit was announced June 18. That enrollment figure and the department’s assessment of the program’s effect on repayment have not been independently verified in the supplied reporting. The discount is available for eligible federal loans originated after July 1, 2012, according to department guidance cited in the reporting. Borrowers generally must be in repayment and in good standing. Those already receiving the standard 0.25-percentage-point autopay reduction can receive an additional 0.