Social Security

Nov 10, 2021

Upstart, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Student Borrower Protection Center Announce Second in a Series of Reports on Fair Lending

Upstart, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the SBPC today announced the release of the second report from the independent auditor under its groundbreaking agreement to transparently review the fair lending outcomes of Upstart’s model and assess best practices in the use and testing of alternative data in AI lending platforms.

More

Nov 8, 2021

Check Out Our Resources for Accessing Public Service Loan Forgiveness

The SBPC is launching a resource center on its website for borrowers to provide them with clear and accurate information, source pain points and barriers that they experience, and direct those who need it to additional assistance.

More

Nov 7, 2021

Department of Education to Review Loan Forgiveness Program for Public Servants

Watch: Student loan debt relief may be in sight for some as the Department of Education announces an overhaul of its student loan forgiveness program for public servants.

More

Nov 3, 2021

ED Can End the Corporate Boondoggle Empowering the Student Loan Industry to Profit Off of Defaulted Borrowers

It’s time for Washington to end the asset-backed boondoggle that harms borrowers while lining Wall Street’s pockets.

More

Letters & Memos

Nov 3, 2021

Letter to PHEAA Warning of Potential Consumer Protection Violations Related to PSLF Implementation

In a letter to PHEAA, the SBPC warns the company that providing incorrect, misleading information to borrowers related to the recent overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program violates federal and state consumer financial protections.

More

Nov 2, 2021

Student Loan Forgiveness: Heavily Redacted Biden Administration Memo Becomes Public

And while the memo itself tells us almost nothing, experts believe its existence and paper trail proves that the president has the authority to forgive all debt but lacks the political will to do so.

More

Nov 1, 2021

A Roadmap for Fixing PSLF for Future Generations

A new memo provides a clear roadmap the Department of Education can use to remove unnecessary constraints for PSLF qualification, hold borrowers blameless for well-documented industry abuses and failures, and change ED’s own policies and procedures for overseeing the program.

More

Letters & Memos

Oct 28, 2021

Letter to the CFPB on Troubling Practices by Large Technology Companies

In a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the SBPC calls attention to troubling practices by large technology companies that are occurring in the higher education finance and postsecondary education space.

More

Oct 26, 2021

It’s Time to Bring the Shadow Student Loan Market into the Light of Consumer Protections

It’s time for Congress to afford borrowers who take on shadow student debt the same protections as everyone else.

More

Oct 25, 2021

Court Rules that the Federal Government’s Largest Student Loan Contractor Is Not Above the Law

On Friday, a court ruled that Maximus Inc., a company that recently became the U.S. Department of Education’s largest student loan contractor, is not above federal consumer protection law and that the case brought by victims of its predatory and illegal debt collections practices may proceed to trial.

More

Oct 21, 2021

How Corporations Keep Their Own Workers in Debt

Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, has described such predatory training loans as “shadow student debt.”

More

Oct 20, 2021

Student Borrower Protection Center Announces New Leadership

The SBPC, a national nonprofit working to end the student debt crisis, announced that SBPC co-founder Mike Pierce will serve as the next executive director of the organization and Persis Yu will join as the SBPC’s new policy director and managing counsel.

More

Comments

Oct 19, 2021

Comments in Response to Proposed Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships

Student Borrower Protection Center offers comments on proposed interagency guidance for banking organizations on managing risks associated with third-party relationships.

More

Oct 19, 2021

SBPC and NCLC Warn Education Department that Delaying “Operation Fresh Start” Will Deny Promised COVID-19 Protections to Millions of Student Loan Borrowers in Default

The SBPC and NCLC released the following statements in response to press reports that ED is weighing but has not yet taken steps to protect millions of federal student loan borrowers from the harsh consequences of default.

More

Oct 18, 2021

Public Sector Workers Could Benefit From Student Loan Overhaul

Other changes include plans to simplify the application process, review denied applications to correct prior errors, remove barriers that deter participation of members of the military and improve communication with eligible borrowers, the agency said.

More

Oct 14, 2021

ED Must Build Back a Better Student Loan System, and That Means Giving Borrowers a Second Chance

For too long, the Department of Education has chosen to squeeze blood from a stone rather than change the practices and rules that keep borrowers trapped in default.

More

Oct 13, 2021

Student Loan Forgiveness: What’s Getting Fixed?

A limited waiver announced by the U.S. Department of Education is expected to immediately wipe the slate clean for 22,000 student borrowers seeking Public Service Loan Forgiveness and speed the process for at least 550,000 overall.

More

Oct 13, 2021

SBPC Statement Regarding the Announced Settlement Between the American Federation of Teachers and the U.S. Department of Education Strengthening Public Service Loan Forgiveness

The U.S. Department of Education and American Federation of Teachers announced an historic settlement building on the recently-announced overhaul of the struggling Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. In response to this announcement, Student Borrower Protection Center Executive Director Seth Frotman released the following statement.

More