Tag Archives: Federal student loans

U.S. Department of Education Collection Complaint System Needs Massive Improvement

Today, the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Borrower Loan Assistance Project released a new report: Borrowers on Hold: Student Loan Collection Agency’s Complaint Systems Need Massive Improvement.    Overview: The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) relies on an increasing … Continue reading

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Recent Changes to Federal Student Aid Programs

Congress made a number of changes to the federal student aid programs at the end of 2011.  This legislation passed without much substantive debate because it was part of the budget process.  President Obama signed the legislaton on December 23, 2011 … Continue reading

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Operational Problems at the Department of Education: What Is Going On?

We wrote in December about operational breakdowns at the Department of Education, focusing on the Department’s failure to properly place borrowers in “forced consolidation” into IBR.  Shockingly, the Department has yet to fix this problem.  Department staff now tell us … Continue reading

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Looking Back at 2011

It seems that we were just looking back at 2010….and yet another year has passed.  As we get ready for a holiday vacation at Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, we offer a few thoughts on 2011: It was a year of … Continue reading

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Operational Breakdowns at the Department of Education

A December 2011 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reveals numerous problems with the Department of Education’s online system for managing student loans. Unfortunately, this is not news to our clients and other borrowers.  We have been pointing out operational … Continue reading

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Obama Administration’s Student Loan Proposals

President Obama announced a plan this week to help alleviate student loan burdens.   The President’s plan shows that the Administration is hearing the voices of struggling student loan borrowers.  It is a good step in providing some relief, but much more needs … Continue reading

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State Relief for Proprietary School Abuses

State tuition recovery funds (STRFs) can be a valuable source of relief for defrauded students when a school is insolvent and when the student cannot obtain a federal discharge. STRFs contain deposits of money collected from schools approved to operate … Continue reading

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Measuring the Impact of Financial Literacy Programs

We wrote previously about the dangers of promoting financial literacy efforts INSTEAD of regulating abusive credit products and INSTEAD of providing relief for financially distressed student loan borrowers.   We noted the shocking lack of evidence that financial literacy is effective. A … Continue reading

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New Unemployment Deferment Self-Help Packet

NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project posted a new self-help packet this week.  The unemployment deferment packet helps borrowers figure out whether they are eligible  for this deferment and if so, how to apply.  Only federal student loan borrowers with loans … Continue reading

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Creating a Fair Disability Discharge Process

We highly recommend Pro Publica’s latest article on student loan disability discharges.  In this article, Sasha Chavkin asked the Department of Education to clarify its position on the most critical disability discharge issue—Will the Department consider Social Security disability determinations … Continue reading

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