The Education Department extended the autopay enrollment deadline for federal student loan borrowers. Sign up now and watch your interest rate drop by a quarter of one percent. Life-changing stuff.
This is what passes for policy innovation. Some bureaucrat in Washington looked at a calendar and said we need more time. Then they sent out a press release. Then financial media covered it like the Emancipation Proclamation.
The discount has been available since forever. Borrowers still haven't signed up. The Trump administration responded by moving the deadline further into the future. Bold leadership. Next they'll extend tax day to December and call it a middle-class tax cut.
Here's what actually happened. Nobody wanted the autopay discount because people hate autopay. They want control over when the money leaves. They want to decide if this month is a student loan month or a keep-the-lights-on month. The government responded by giving them more time to make a decision they already made.
Twenty-five basis points. That's the prize. On a $30,000 loan that's seventy-five bucks a year. Six dollars and twenty-five cents per month. You can find that much in your couch. You can save more by making coffee at home twice. You can earn it back by not buying one streaming service you forgot you had.
But sure. Rush to sign up. Let the government reach into your checking account every month like a pickpocket with a schedule. All so you can save the cost of a breakfast burrito per month. The deadline got extended because this deal is so good nobody wants it.
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