What does the government shutdown mean for student loans?

There are many questions that come up during a government shutdown and one may be about what will happen to student loans.

When it comes to your student loan payments that are due, those still have to be paid.

“Keep paying your loans if you can. If you’re not impacted by being furloughed as a government employee, then keep paying your loans, because to not pay them is potentially going to put them into default, and put you in a position where interest is going to keep accruing,” said Stephen Kates, a financial analyst for Bankrate.

When it comes to any changes you might need to make to your plans though, or if you have new loans, those may take a bit of time.

“Processing of new loans, processing of any of the repayment plans around the income-driven repayment, other situations like tha