Across the country, millions of Americans with unpaid student loans are discovering that years of patience and forgiveness from the U.S. government have officially come to an end.

Stacy Cowley, a business reporter for The Times, explains what is behind the change of heart, sets out its financial consequences for borrowers — and discusses the larger reckoning that it may cause about how Americans pay for higher education.

Guest: Stacy Cowley, a business reporter at The New York Times, with a focus on consumer finance.

Background reading:

Millions of student loan borrowers are behind on payments.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Photo: Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is the Era of Student Loan Forgiveness Officially Over?

The Daily

Is the Era of Student Loan Forgiveness Officially Over?