Category Archives: Student Loans

WaPo: Millions of Americans hit with bad credit [scores] after missed student loan payments

Here, by  Abha Bhattarai. According to the article “Credit scores dipped by more than 100 points for 2.2 million delinquent student loan borrowers, and 150 points or more for more than 1 million in the first three months of 2025, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” Student loan borrowers […]

CFPB survey on impacts of student-loan debt relief and repayment challenges

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued results from its Student Loan Borrower Survey, providing insights into the effects of student loan debt relief programs and the challenges borrowers face in navigating repayment options. The survey, conducted between October 2023 and January 2024, gathered data from a representative sample of student loan borrowers as the federal […]

Whither consumer protection in a second Trump administration?

The future, they say, is the hardest thing to predict. With that caveat, what can we expect from a second Trump administration for consumer prediction? Some quick thoughts: President-elect Trump will surely ask CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to resign so that he can replace Chopra with someone he prefers. Despite the fact that Vice President-elect […]

CFPB moves to ban Navient from federal student loan servicing

In a long-running litigation filed in Pennsylvania federal district court, the CFPB today filed a proposed stipulated order, which, if entered, would largely remove Navient from the federal student loan market, and require the company to pay a $20 million penalty and provide $100 million in relief to borrowers. The case includes allegations that Navient […]

Court temporarily stops student loan relief scam

A federal court this month issued an order, in a case filed by the Federal Trade Commission, to temporarily stop a predatory student loan relief scam that targeted Puerto Rican, Spanish-speaking borrowers. According to the FTC’s complaint against USA Student Debt Relief/Start Connecting SAS, operating out of Florida and Cali, Colombia, these entities falsely represented […]

CHE essay on how for-profit colleges trick students and student loan forgiveness

The essay, by Mark Rivett, who both attended a for-profit college and taught at one, is titled I was Trapped in For-Profit College Hell (behind paywall). It’s subtitle is “Predatory schools tricked students like me into assuming huge debt for worthless credit.” Here’s the beginning: “If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject […]

National Consumer Law Center releases student-loan toolkit

The National Consumer Law Center has released a student-loan toolkit. According to NCLC, it is “a free online resource to help borrowers navigate the student loan system and manage their debt. It’s also a resource for financial counselors, legal aid attorneys, and other advocates who advise borrowers on the options and strategies for their loan […]

Private lender Navient has secret debt discharge program tied to school misconduct

Since 1994, the Department of Education has had a process for discharging federal student loan debt where students show they were defrauded or misled by the schools they attended- referred to as the “borrower defense” process. The Biden Administration’s borrower defense rule is currently on hold as a result of a Fifth Circuit opinion. But even […]

Dep’t of Ed approves $6 billion in student loan relief for students of college shut down amid fraud allegations

The Department of Education today approved roughly $6 billion in student loan relief for more than 300,000 students who attended The Art Institutes, a network of for-profit colleges that was plagued by fraud allegations before completely shutting down in September 2023. The chain’s parent company, Education Management Corporation, reached a nearly $100 million settlement with […]