Additional SBPC Investigative Work
Spotlight on Administration Failures
Working to uncover corruption and demand answers from the public officials charged with protecting borrowers:
Letters to Congress & Regulators
- Advocates Call on CFPB to Eliminate the Junk Fees Harming Students (April 11, 2022)
- Advocates Oppose “Liability Shields” for Colleges Related to the Coronavirus Pandemic (June 4, 2020)
- SBPC and NCLC Demand Department of Education Implement Fixes to CARES Act Implementation (April 27, 2020)
- SBPC and AFT Demand Government and Industry Leaders Take Action to Protect Borrowers During Coronavirus Pandemic (March 19, 2020)
- SBPC Demands the CFPB Recognize the National Student Clearinghouse as a Credit Reporting Agency (January 28, 2020)
- SBPC & Veterans Groups Call on the Department of Education to Stop Obstructing SCRA Enforcement (July 18, 2019)
- SBPC & Civil Rights Groups Urge CFPB to Root Out Discrimination in Student Loan Servicing Industry (June 3, 2019)
Reports
- SBPC, U.S. PIRG, and Consumer Action Issue Brief on CFPB Complaint Database Improvements (April 24, 2020)
Blogs
- ED Needs to Begin Planning Now for the Possibility of a Large OPM Blowing Up (June 15, 2022)
- The Secret Price of Student Debt Shows Why We Need A Student Debt Stimulus for Everyone (May 22, 2020)
- Help Us Stop Betsy DeVos’ Illegal Wage Garnishments (May 1, 2020)
- As the Coronavirus Rages, Americans Deserve More than a CFPB that Chooses to Bury its Head in the Sand (April 6, 2020)
- When the Student Loan System Fails, Payment Relief Becomes Just Another Empty Promise (March 23, 2020)
- Plans to “Pause” Student Loan Payments Solve a Political Problem, But Leave Student Loan Borrowers Worse for the Wear (March 20, 2020)
- One More Way States Can Step Up as Betsy DeVos Rolls Back Legal Protections (February 14, 2020)
- Lack of Safeguards in the Student Lending Market (December 5, 2019)
- A History of the Department of Education’s Repeated Failures in Borrower Protection (November 26, 2019)
- CFPB’s 150 Days of Inaction to Address the Student Loan Crisis (August 2, 2019)
- How DeVos is Trying to Give Companies that Harmed Servicemembers a Free Pass (June 18, 2019)
- Department of Education’s Continued Refusal to Forgive Loans of Disabled Veterans (December 13, 2018)
Calling Industry to Account
Using federal FOIA requests, state sunshine laws, and mystery shopping among other tools to spotlight special interest carve outs, expose deceptive practices, and shed light on failures to monitor bad actors in the market:
Letters to Industry
- SBPC, Military, and Veterans Groups Demand Industry Leaders Uphold SCRA Protections for Military Consumers (May 1, 2020)
- SBPC and AFR Demand Navient Board of Directors Invest in Student Borrowers, Not Shareholders (April 17, 2020)
- SBPC and AFR Urge Industry to Provide Relief to Private Student Loan Borrowers During Coronavirus Pandemic (March 27, 2020)
Reports
- Memo on Automatic Payment Relief by Student Loan Servicers During Coronavirus Pandemic (April 22, 2020)
Blogs
- New Data Show Student Loan Defaults Spiked in 2019 – A Warning to Industry and DeVos Amid Economic Fallout (March 13, 2020)
- A New Debt Collection Lawsuit Gives us a Glimpse at the Future of Student Loan Servicing for Tens of Millions of Borrowers (February 12, 2020)
- How the False Claims Act Can Be Used to Stamp Out Higher Education Fraud (October 21, 2019)
- Five Things We Learned About Navient’s Plot to Cheat Student Borrowers (September 19, 2019)
- Dangers of Lending Discrimination Through the Use of Education Data (July 24, 2019)
- A Decade of Litigation Highlights the Failures of the Student Loan Industry (July 17, 2019)
- “Credit” Products and the Avoidance of Accountability (July 17, 2019)
- How States Can Stop the Harmful Practice of Transcript Withholding (March 29, 2019)
- What is a Guaranty Agency? (March 29, 2019)
- Debt Collection Lawsuit Gives a Glimpse at the Future of Student Loan Servicing for Tens of Millions of Borrowers (February 12, 2019)
Statements
- Congressional Investigation into Trump Administration Obstruction and Industry Abuses (August 14, 2019)
Demanding Answers for Borrowers
Using research and advocacy to elevate borrowers’ stories of abuse, highlight breakdowns and corruption in the student loan system, and drive meaningful change:
Letters
- SBPC and Coalition Partners Warn of Continued Consumer Risk and Dangerous Stakeholder Complacency in the Transition Away from LIBOR (May 29, 2020)
Reports
Blogs
- Borrower Voices: The Impact of Wage Garnishment During the Coronavirus Pandemic (April 14, 2020)
- Who is Watching Out for Students When it Comes to Campus Banking Deals? (February 4, 2020)
- How Lead Generator Companies are Leading Veterans and Servicemembers into the Arms of Predatory Schools (February 1, 2019)