The CFPB today issued a report finding that “payment plans” offered by various postsecondary schools can carry risks to students, as they often include high fees, confusing and inconsistent disclosures, forced arbitration agreements, and snowballing interest. The Bureau also found that the third-party service providers schools partner with can engage in abusive debt collection practices. […]
Category Archives: Student Loans
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are sending a total of more than $9 million in refunds to 22,562 consumers who lost money to Ameritech Financial, a student-loan debt-relief scheme operated by Brandon Frere, who was convicted of criminal charges in connection with the scheme. Details are here.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau joined with 10 state attorneys general and a California regulator to take action against Prehired for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices. The CFPB explains: “Prehired operated a 12-week online training program claiming to prepare consumers for entry-level positions as software sales development representatives with “six-figure salaries” and a “job […]
The Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) today sued the federal government and issued a report on the student loan experience for incarcerated borrowers. In its first lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, SBPC is seeking to compel the production of documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The request concerns the federal government […]
The Federal Trade Commission has stopped a pair of student loan debt relief schemes that it says bilked students out of approximately $12 million by using deceptive claims about repayment programs and loan forgiveness that did not exist. The agency also says the companies falsely claimed to be or be affiliated with the Department of […]
Here (behind paywall). The information ultimately comes from the Department of Education.
That’s the name of this essay from the Student Borrower Protection Center.
A few interesting updates concerning student-loan forgiveness or discharge care of Politico this morning: An Education Department judge plans to hold a hearing next week on DeVry University’s appeal of a $23 million penalty stemming from fraud-related loan discharges for its former students. Two for-profit education companies and a non-profit college are appealing a settlement, […]
The Department of Education announced today a proposal to “to reduce the cost of federal student loan payments, especially for low and middle-income borrowers.” The Department says that the proposed regulations “would create the most affordable income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that has ever been made available to student loan borrowers, simplify the program, and eliminate […]
Daniel Collier, Assistant Professor of Adult and Higher Education, University of Memphis and Dan Fitzpatrick, Research and Assessment Specialist, University of Michigan, have written Jubilee and Jubilation: An Examination of the Relationship between Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Measures of Well-Being. Here is the abstract: A team of researchers at the University of Memphis and the […]