INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For the first time in more than three years, student loans will begin to accrue interest.

Starting Friday, the U.S. Department of Education says borrowers will once again be charged the interest rate they were paying before March 2020.

Bill Wozniak, the Vice President of INvested, has been helping Hoosier families, colleges, and high schools with financial aid initiatives since 2003. INvested gives Hoosiers access to experts who offer personalized guidance on student loans, saving for college, and more.

Wozniak suggests families prepare to repay their debt.

“The biggest misconception goes both ways. We talk to families all the time that think, ‘There is no help for me, I am just going to default. I have no good option,’ and that’s usually not the case. There are oftentimes good options available. And then the other way, there are people that will say, ‘Nope, I don’t have to pay. Nope, that doesn’t apply to me’ and that’s often not the case.”

INvested offers student loan checkups to find out what loans borrowers are obligated to pay.

Wozniak says his team will ask borrowers a series of questions such as: “What are the terms on those loans? When someone calls us, we can make sure their contact information is correct and they have the latest information from the servicers. What are the loans that they’re obligated to pay and what are the rates on those loans.”

Wozniak wants families to know that options are available to repay the debt.

“On federal student loans, sometimes the rate the amount they have to pay is zero and that counts as a payment, not always, but often.”

In a news release, INvested said its outreach team “will conduct over 800 events this year covering all parts of Indiana and also help more than 10,000 additional individuals with answers for their specific education funding questions.”

Borrowers will be required to pay their monthly student loan bills starting in October.