Just days after President Biden forgave $4.5 billion in student debt for 60,000 public service workers – and 2 weeks before the election, he is now extending a 6-month repayment freeze for 8 million borrowers that had enrolled in the administration's massive Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, now on hold due to court challenges.

Under the extension, borrowers will not have to pay back their student loans, pending the outcome of legal challenges against the debt cancellation plan. SAVE enrollees will be placed in an interest-free general forbearance, according to the Department of Education. Borrowers, and employers on borrowers' behalf, can make a payment during this forbearance.

The $475 billion SAVE program remains on hold, after a federal judge in Missouri blocked the plan in October, just one day after a judge in Georgia gave approval to go forward. Previously, the Supreme Court denied a request from Pres. Biden to bypass lawsuit challenges that were making their way through the courts.