When the US government started collecting student loan payments again, many Americans saw their credit scores drop. If payments are missed for 90 days, loan companies report this to credit bureaus, which can hurt credit ratings as much as going bankrupt. This makes it harder or more expensive to get car loans, home loans, and credit cards. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that in early 2025, over 3 million student loan borrowers had their scores fall a lot. The US Department of Education stopped federal student loan payments in March 2020 because of the pandemic, and they started again in 2023 with a one-year grace period. However, the Trump administration began collecting unpaid student loans again in late 2024.