A measure that will suspend federal student loan payments for six months is part of the sweeping coronavirus stimulus package that President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE signed into law Friday afternoon.

As part of the legislation intended to blunt the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the measure mandates that lenders cease all payments on the loans through the end of September.

Interest will not accrue and non-payment will not impact credit scores in the interim period.

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The law also requires lenders to alert borrowers that the payments have been suspended within 15 days of the bill’s signing and resume alerts on Aug. 1 that the payments will resume.

People still can choose to pay down the principal on their loans over the next six months.

Private student loans, which account for roughly 12 percent of all education loans in 2018-2019, according to the College Board, are not impacted by the law.

Democrats had sought to go further by having the Education Department make federal student loan payments for the duration of the coronavirus health crisis.

Under a Democratic proposal, the department would have been required to make an additional payment at the end of the pandemic to ensure that every borrower had received $10,000 toward their student loan debt over the duration of the crisis.