The US government has started collecting student loan payments again. This means many Americans' credit scores are going down. If people do not pay for 90 days, their credit score can be very badly affected. This makes it harder to get loans for cars, houses, or credit cards. A bank in New York said that in early 2025, more than 3 million people with student loans saw their scores drop a lot. The government stopped student loan payments in 2020 because of the pandemic. They started again in 2023, and people had one year to get ready. But the government began collecting unpaid loans again in late 2024.