It’s still a relatively rare benefit: About 8% of employers in the country offer help with student loan debt.

A debt ceiling deal has been made, and student loan borrowers will have to start making payments again later this summer.

“I wanted to have something that I could easily add on to my current workload,” says chemist April Oliver of Bozeman, Montana.

Discretionary spending may decline as people add those payments back into their budgets.

U.S. borrowers hold a collective $1.8 trillion in both public and private student loans.

At issue is if the president has the authority to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt for some 43 million borrowers.

In 2022, consumer credit increased 7.8% from the year before. But in December, the growth in borrowing decelerated.

In the past, not even one student borrower in 100 who declared bankruptcy had student loans discharged.

A federal program used to reject most applications. But a Biden administration waiver has allowed forgiveness for $14 billion in loans.

With over 40 million people eligible for debt relief, this is the largest operation of its kind in the department’s history.