This coming Tuesday, a temporary grace period protecting borrowers who have late or missed student loan payments will come to an end.

During the pandemic, federal student loan repayment was paused, but when payments resumed last year, borrowers who had late or missed payments were not reported to credit bureaus, and their credit scores were not impacted.

That all changes on Tuesday. If you need help, there’s a federal program called Fresh Start to help you get upright with your loan — but you must enroll before Oct. 1.

Nearly 30% of federal student loan payments are past due, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last month.

If you need to see where you are in the process, go to studentaid.gov and look up your account. This will help you see what you owe.

If you need more assistance, Lutheran Social Services has advice on what to do to keep you in good standing on your student loan.

“We are here as an option to walk through the repayment options,” said Kim Miller, senior program manager of the organization.