In honor of Financial Literacy Month, it’s worth taking a moment to consider one of the biggest financial challenges facing Americans of all generations — their student loan debt.

For those who may not be familiar with the student loan process, there are two loan types that students and their parents can explore to pay for a college education: federal student loans (public) and private student loans (issued by a bank, for example). You can read more about this at studentaid.gov. The Federal Reserve calculates that Americans owe roughly $1.74 trillion in student loan debt between both public and private loans.

Congress actually granted presidential authority to modify loan terms in a 2003 bill known as the HEROES Act. This is the piece of legislation that gave then-President Trump the authority to place all federal loans in deferment during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning March 20, 2020. No borrowers were required make payments of any kind for a period of 60 days. Ultimately, this relief was extended by both the Trump and Biden administrations through October 2023.

However, there is talk of providing yet more federal student loan relief, this time in the form of forgiving accrued interest. The most recent proposal put forth on Monday would forgive up to $20,000 per person by releasing them from the interest obligations associated with their loans.