Austin Smith | October 17, 2022 The Student Loan Industry Lobbied for Laws That it Thought Would Boost Profits. Those Same Laws May Have Inadvertently Entitled Millions of Borrowers to Relief That They Were Improperly Denied During COVID-19. A new lawsuit may finally get relief for millions of borrowers unfairly denied relief for years, including during COVID, using a law that lenders themselves lobbied for to boost their profits. Learn More
Charlie Eaton | August 24, 2022 Analysis of President Biden’s Announced Executive Order to Cancel Student Debt We conducted a rapid analysis of President Biden’s executive order to cancel student debt. Learn More
Brandon Herrera | August 24, 2022 Timeline of Biden’s Student Debt Action – and its Effects A visual timeline of Biden's student debt action and its impacts Learn More
Dan Cohen, Emily Rosenman, and Tom Baker | August 23, 2022 Income Share Agreements: Predatory Inclusion into a Deeply Unequal Education System Based on a review of various income share agreement structures and research on the workings of the ISA industry, we argue that, rather than a progressive alternative to student loans, ISAs are better characterized as reflecting a process of predatory inclusion. Learn More
Amber Saddler | August 18, 2022 The Department of Education Has a Chance to Throw a Lifeline to 9 Million+ Student Loan Borrowers. It Should Not End the PSLF Waiver or IDR Account Adjustment Until It Does. The Biden Administration must extend and coordinate the timelines of the PSLF Waiver and IDR Account Adjustment to ensure that all borrowers can access the promise of affordable and manageable student loan repayment. Learn More
Ben Kaufman | July 20, 2022 The PSLF Waiver Has Been a Huge Success, and It May Be Just Hitting Its Stride. Why End It? The PSLF waiver has been a phenomenal success—and it may just be getting started in delivering its powerful benefits. The Biden Administration should take the commonsense step of preventing it from expiring. Learn More
Laura Hamilton and Christian Smith | July 19, 2022 OPM Contracts Reveal Risks for Students and Universities In a new paper, we analyzed hundreds of contracts between colleges and online program managers. What our analysis revealed about the risks OPMs might pose to students and the powers schools are handing over to private contractors is concerning. Learn More
Ben Kaufman | June 27, 2022 Colorado’s Nation-Leading Work to Shine a Light on Shadow Student Debt Exposes Massive Risks for Borrowers Less than a year after passing the Student Loan Equity Act, Colorado’s nation-leading work to shed light on shadow student debt reveals key risks. Learn More
Ben Kaufman | June 15, 2022 ED Needs to Begin Planning Now for the Possibility of a Large OPM Blowing Up Given problems at 2U, ED needs to lay the groundwork now to ensure that student loan borrowers have a clear path to relief if an OPM folds or suddenly changes its offerings due to problems at the corporate level—and it needs to make students and the public aware of those... Learn More
Ben Kaufman and Claire Torchiana | June 8, 2022 With ED Asleep at the Wheel, the CFPB Must Protect Students from Out-of-Control Online Program Managers We sent a letter to the CFPB calling on the agency to step in and protect students from predatory conduct by OPMs—something ED has proven unable or unwilling to do for more than a decade. Learn More