The pause on student loan payments is ending. Can borrowers find room in their budgets?

After a payment pause that has lasted more than three years, more than 40 million student loan borrowers will be on the hook for payments starting in late August. A new debt bill passed by Congress removed any hope that the Biden administration would extend the pause again if the Supreme Court strikes down the White House's student loan cancellation. Among the most vulnerable borrowers are those who finished college during the pandemic. Millions have never had to make a loan payment, and their bills will soon start coming amid soaring inflation and forecasts of economic recession.