Social Security

Bonnie Latreille, the FSA ombudsman and co-founder of the Student Borrower Protection Center, took over the ombudsman’s office in July 2021… Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said the ombudsman’s report did a good job of highlighting the pain points in student loan policy and putting a face on the issues. “The previous [ombudsman] reports have been technical and dry and didn’t do a good job of lifting up borrowers’ voices,”…

“If Frank’s primary function was to get people through the financial aid application, and Frank promised to JPMorgan Chase that their account holders comprised [4.25] million people, that would be a quarter of all financial aid applications in America, depending on how you measure it,” said Mike Pierce, executive director and co-founder of the Student Borrower Protection Center, a nonprofit that focuses on student debt. “There should always be skepticism about how these…

In a series of letters Massachusetts Sen. Warren sent out on Wednesday, she asked nearly 20 advocacy groups — including the NAACP, the Student Borrower Protection Center, and The Debt Collective — how the efforts to block President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers are impacting the groups’ members.

Advocates lauded the proposed improvements but expressed disappointment with this exclusion. “It ignores the reality that low-income families—especially low-income families of color—are more likely to rely on Parent PLUS loans or need to get a graduate degree to earn the same salary as their wealthier white peers,” Persis Yu, deputy executive director of advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement.

“These briefs reinforce and expand on the U.S. Department of Justice’s case that student debt relief is legal and necessary and that legal challenges brought against student debt relief lack standing,” the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) said in an email on Wednesday. SBPC advocates to protect student loan borrowers.

One of the 13 briefs was filed by the Student Borrower Protection Center, and has signatures of over 70 legal services and borrower advocacy organizations from across the country. According to the center, the brief focuses on real life stories of borrowers “crushed by the weight of student debt” and “the financial devastation caused by the pandemic.” The brief argues that the federal government has previously provided direct financial support to families, small…

“We’re now in a place where the Supreme Court has this incredibly high stake decision to make, about whether or not these dark money-funded, right-wing challenges to debt relief can succeed and can block tens of millions of Americans from the relief they deserve. And now we know who’s on the side of borrowers, and it’s really amazing—it’s the full breadth of the coalition [those who submitted 13 amici briefs in support of…

“Equity demands that these [Parent PLUS and graduate] borrowers have equal access to an affordable payment plan and the necessary supports to free themselves from the crushing weight of student debt. The Secretary must include them in the final rule,” Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the SBPC, said in a statement.

“The Department’s plan remains out of reach for many of the students and families who are forced to take on some of the greatest amounts of debt in hopes of achieving social mobility,” Persis Yu, deputy executive director of advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement.