A repayment pause is simply a temporary period in which you don't have to make loan payments. Forgiveness, alternatively, would permanently eliminate some or all of your debt. "Look at it this way: You're currently being forgiven your monthly payment and accruing interest, but when the moratorium finally ends, you will pick up where you left off in March 2020," says Andrew Pentis, a certified student loan counselor and student debt expert at Student Loan Hero. "If you carried $15,000 worth of federal loan debt back then, that's at least how much you'll owe once you resume active repayment."  Much of the conversation around federal student loan forgiveness has focused on President Biden's campaign promise to cancel student debt. Politicians and activists have campaigned for the government to forgive between $10,000 and $50,000 in debt, though none of these proposals are official.  Instead of waiting for forgiveness, put a plan in place for when payments resume.  "Keep on top of deadlines and other updates to make the best possible decisions," Dahlby says. "As we've seen several times now, the government will continue to change their plans on how long the pause will be, and despite that uncertainty one thing remains constant – you have time to prepare for the loans if and when payments come due, and the best time to start that preparation is today."