Today, the Department of Education released a new report outlining a series of statutory, regulatory, and administrative recommendations in response to President Obama’s Student Aid Bill of Rights.  There are some good recommendations for borrowers (e.g. see the recommendation to increase the amount of Social Security benefits that should be protected from offset).  The Department […]

It has been busy lately in the student loan servicing arena.  State and federal regulators have begun to wake up to the rampant problems caused by sloppy, inaccurate, and incompetent servicers and the heavy costs for borrowers.  We have been writing about these issues for some time. The stakes are high.  Student loan servicers are […]

We wrote in a previous post about our coalition letter to the Department of Education’s “Special Master”, urging him to create a fair and accessible “defense to repayment” process for borrowers.  While the special master Joseph Smith works on this project, the Department also announced that it will be holding hearings and creating a negotiated […]

United States Senators Blumenthal, Murray and Warren sent a letter to the Department of Education in May requesting information about the Department’s reviews of servicers’ compliance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).  In announcing the review last year, Secretary of Education Duncan said that every option would be on the table with regard to […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked for comments on student loan servicing a few months ago.  Thousands of borrowers and their advocates responded before yesterday’s deadline, highlighting again and again that the current system does not work well for borrowers and is not created to ensure that borrowers have enforceable rights to quality service […]

The Obama Administration announced a number of relief options for borrowers this week, including new ways to help disabled borrowers.  This has been overshadowed by other news on student loans this week, but it is criticially important.  We have been calling on the Administration for some time to stop collecting from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has launched a public inquiry into student loan servicing practices.  The issues that the Bureau is seeking information on include: industry practices that create repayment challenges, hurdles for distressed borrowers, and the economic incentives that may affect the quality of service. The CFPB is also re-launching an enhanced version […]

NCLC Advocates Applaud Department of Education’s Step Towards Granting Widespread Student Debt Relief to Corinthian Borrowers Over the past year, the National Consumer Law Center has called on the U.S. Department of Education to cancel the student loans of all borrowers harmed by the predatory and illegal practices of Corinthian Colleges.  NCLC advocates applaud today’s […]

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 […]