This memo details how the Administration’s remedy to the failures of Income-Driven Repayment (IDR)—an IDR Account Adjustment—is predicated on the myth that borrowers have full and accurate payment history records. A true IDR solution should count all months since the start of repayment or since a borrower exited their grace period, regardless of payment status. A policy that requires the Department, servicers, or borrowers to parse through years of payment histories does not acknowledge the reality of borrowers’ lived experiences with our broken student loan system and denies realities the Department has itself acknowledged.
Read the Memo: Borrower Voices on the Incomplete Promise of Relief through IDR: Missing and Inaccurate Loan Payment Histories