As of May 10, the new federal student aid ID (FSA ID) has replaced the old PIN system. The Department of Education says it created this new system to improve security and the customer experience.  This system is very important for borrowers.  You must have an FSA ID to get access to personal information (such as […]

Senator Warren and Congressman Cummings recently held a “Tackling Student Debt” hearing in Boston as part of their middle class prosperity project. NCLC’s statement at the hearing highlighted concerns about government profits in the student loan programs.  The bottom line is that Congress did not create federal student loans to generate profits for the federal […]

There is a lot of good news for borrowers in the President’s Student Aid Bill of Rights memorandum.   Combined with the recent cancellation of a number of government debt collection agency contracts, the President is showing that his Administration is serious about helping struggling student loan borrowers.  The reforms announced today are a positive […]

The Department of Education announced late in the day on Friday that following a review of 22 private collection agencies, the Department will “wind down” contacts with five agencies that were “…providing inaccurate information to borrowers.”  The five companies are:  Coast Professional, Enterprise Recovery Systems, National Recoveries, Pioneer Credit Recovery (owned by Sallie Mae/Navient), and […]

The Department of Education’s latest round of negotiated rulemaking begins tomorrow.  The Department has set out a limited, but important agenda, focusing on income-driven repayment and benefits for military service members. Specifically, the Department has said that the agenda will be to:  (1) prepare proposed regulations to establish a new Pay as You Earn repayment plan […]

Unlike other federal student loans, there is a “credit check” requirement for both parent and graduate/professional PLUS loans.  The “credit check” basically requires that  PLUS loan borrowers show that they do not have adverse credit histories. There has been considerable controversy about how to define an “adverse credit history.”  After a lot of back and […]

We thought last year was a busy year in the student loan world (and it was) but this year was even busier.  As The Institute for College Access and Success  (TICAS)  and others have reported, student debt burdens continue to increase.  The Obama Administration announced a commitment this year to expand options for borrowers and to […]

We support today’s action taken by the CFPB and the Florida Attorney General to shut down College Education Services and in a separate CFPB action to file a lawsuit against Student Loan Processing.US, student loan “debt relief” businesses. NCLC highlighted concerns about the student “debt relief” industry in its 2013 report Searching for Relief: Desperate […]

The National Consumer Law Center’s annual conference wrapped up this weekend.  We were honored to have a number of top federal student aid regulators at our conference this year.  We wrote about Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin’s speech in a separate post.  We were also honored to hear from Department of Education Deputy Under […]

Last month, the Department of Education announced new contract terms for its largest student loan servicers.  The Department made some important changes, but much more needs to be done. As Ben Miller of New America summarized, the changes address only the finances, not the structure of student loan servicing.  We agree that financial incentives matter […]