By Diane Cheng, Associate Research Director, the Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) This post originally appeared on www.ticas.org/blog. 20 million students complete the FAFSA every year to apply for financial aid from the federal government, states, and colleges. More than six million federal student loan borrowers are currently enrolled in income-driven repayment (IDR) […]

Advocates for student loan borrowers breathed a sigh of relief on March 30, when the deadline passed for Congress to introduce a resolution to roll back the new “borrower defense” rules.  These rules are designed to protect students and taxpayers from harm by predatory schools.  After rumblings from Washington that these rules would be in […]

There are no easy answers for former ITT Tech students struggling with student loan debt, but there are a number of actions these students can consider to try to get rid of any unfair debt. Closed School Discharge, Borrower Defenses, State Tuition Recovery Funds In previous posts, we discussed the key options for the tens […]

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced final regulations to protect federal student loan borrowers and taxpayers against closures and misconduct by predatory schools like we saw with the now closed Corinthian Colleges. The regulations, most of which are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2017, include significant amendments to the rules governing borrower defenses to […]

The rules around closed school discharges can be confusing—for students and for those trying to assist them—and good information can unfortunately be hard to find.  We have heard that a lot of incorrect information is circulating on message boards.  It’s important to know the facts before making a decision about transferring credits or applying for […]

On September 6, 2016, ITT announced that it was closing its campus doors, leaving tens of thousands of students across the country in the lurch.  ITT students everywhere are figuring out what to do next. Although students will have a lot of individual considerations, there are two basic options for students who were unable to […]

Last week the U.S. Department of Education launched a new, mobile-friendly website StudentLoans.gov/Repay to help student loan borrowers identify good repayment options for their circumstances.  The new website is easy to use on a smartphone – a great feature for those borrowers whose primary access to the internet is through their phones.  And with just […]

For over a year, the National Consumer Law Center and other borrower advocates have been calling on the Department of Education to relieve the heavy debt burdens of students harmed by the deceptive and illegal practices of for-profit schools. It appeared that the Department was poised to do so when it decided to convene a negotiated rulemaking […]

Today the Department of Education made the newest income-driven student loan repayment plan, the Revised Pay As You Earn (“REPAYE”) plan, available for borrowers to request through its online income-driven repayment plan application (a paper application is also available here).  Now all Direct Loan student borrowers (though not Parent Plus borrowers) will be able to […]