Social Security

Quinn is among the 42.9 million Americans who had federal student loans as of last year, according to the National Student Loan Data System. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Board statistics show outstanding student loans overall have swelled to $1.7 trillion, surpassing the nation’s auto loans and credit card debt. Seth Frotman, executive director of the non-profit advocacy group SBPC, characterized the current state of student loans as a “quiet crisis.”

Student loan debt relief scams aren’t new. In fact, consumer advocates say they were actually declining thanks to a 2017 operation launched by the Federal Trade Commission, which brought actions on 36 companies that had collected over $95 million in illegal fees. So, why are they rising again? Bonnie Latreille, director of research and advocacy at the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), says that the scammers’ business model is designed to prey upon…

Six million federal student loan borrowers can’t benefit from the current payment pause — one that could give most people with debt 19 months of relief if it isn’t extended past Oct. 1. These unlucky borrowers have commercially held Federal Family Education Loan Program debt or Perkins loans held by their schools.

A decade after the law was passed, she has held up her end of the deal yet remains saddled with debt she should not have to repay. While she is thrilled that students are returning to her classroom this month, her $500-a-month student loan bill that should have stopped coming years ago is a constant reminder of how our country’s student loan system has failed her.