Social Security

Jan 15, 2021

Private Student Loan Collections Report: Maryland Spotlight

In a report, the SBPC, the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, the American Federation of Teachers-Maryland, and SEIU Local 500, shows how private student loan collection practices are harming borrowers across the country, including a spotlight on Maryland borrowers.

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Jan 15, 2021

Maryland is Poised to End the Predatory Student Loan Debt Collection Machine that Barreled on Amidst COVID-19

Despite the devastating public health and economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, student loan companies continue to haul borrowers into courtrooms across the country. Every day, we see more of these unconscionable lawsuits, including cases brought by companies that once publicly pledged to halt these practices in the first days of the pandemic.

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Jan 14, 2021

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signs $626 million economic development bill that spurs housing production, funds small business grants

The new law creates a Student Loan Ombudsman office that will review complaints, educate borrowers, and more. The bill is based on one filed by Lesser and Rep. Natalie Higgins, a Worcester Democrat. Lesser said the law creates new protections for more than 1 million student loan borrowers in Massachusetts.

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Jan 11, 2021

The Web of Players and Practices Allowing Predatory For-Profit Schools to Flourish

For years, predatory for-profit schools have plagued the American higher education system, aggressively recruiting students into high-cost, low-quality education and training programs with false promises. As the abuses of this industry continue to come to light, the SBPC has launched investigations into the companies and practices that allow these schools to operate with impunity, raking in billions of dollars in federal student aid while student loan borrowers are driven deeper into debt. Shadow…

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Jan 8, 2021

Research Roundup: The Student Debt Crisis is a Crisis for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship

An emerging body of evidence suggests that student debt is a growing drag on the small business sector and on new business formation. This research suggests that addressing the student debt crisis will be a key step in promoting the resilience and vibrancy of the small business sector during and after the pandemic.

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Dec 31, 2020

2020 SBPC Highlights Report

This report highlights some of the critical work the SBPC has been able to accomplish alongside dedicated advocates and borrowers throughout the country.

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Dec 31, 2020

2020: A Year of New Challenges and Victories in the Fight to Protect Student Loan Borrowers

Together with our partners and allies, we have worked to ensure that the plight of student loan borrowers remains front and center as policymakers take action to tackle the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic.

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Dec 22, 2020

Report: Dept. of Education Empowered Loan Servicers to Mislead Public Service Borrowers

An explosive new report released today by the Student Borrower Protection Center and the American Federation of Teachers sheds new light on the U. S. Department of Education’s role in mismanaging the troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

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Dec 22, 2020

Broken Promises: How the Department of Education’s Failures and Industry’s Abuses Deny FFEL Borrowers Public Service Loan Forgiveness

This report examines the challenges that borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans face when seeking to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

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Dec 22, 2020

Why FFEL Borrowers Are Routinely Denied Access to PSLF

This report looks at the fate of public service workers who owe older federal loans made by banks and other private lenders and guaranteed by the federal government under the Federal Family Education Loans Program

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Press Releases

Dec 11, 2020

Delivering on Debt Relief: Cancelling Student Debt on Day One and Beyond

Student Borrower Protection Center and Demos hosted a virtual conference featuring student loan advocates, experts, and policymakers discussing how the Biden administration can take immediate action to deliver promised relief to servicemembers, public servants, defrauded borrowers, and other vulnerable groups.

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Dec 10, 2020

Affirming Accountability: How the Biden Administration Can Stop the Shady Companies Helping For-Profit Colleges Evade Responsibility for Driving Students Into Default

This issue brief details how for-profit schools work with third-party companies to skirt accountability requirements designed to protect borrowers who attended schools with high default rates.

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Dec 10, 2020

A Shadow Industry is Manipulating Student Loan Borrowers’ Default Rates—It’s Time to Stop these Practices

The SBPC released a new issue brief detailing how predatory for-profit schools team up with cohort default rate (CDR) manipulation companies to evade critical rules designed to protect borrowers who attended schools with high default rates.

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Dec 4, 2020

Combating Exploitative Education: Holding For-Profit Schools Accountable for Civil Rights Violations

This report from the SBPC and Relman Colfax attorneys Stephen Hayes and Andrea Lowe, calls for strengthening and deploying civil rights tools in order to combat predatory practices by for-profit schools.

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Dec 4, 2020

Holding For-Profit Schools Accountable for Civil Rights Violations

The SBPC’s latest report: Combating Exploitative Education: Holding For-Profit Schools Accountable for Civil Rights Violations, argues how civil rights statutes and regulations must be strengthened and enforced to protect borrowers and hold for-profit schools accountable for their predatory practices towards communities of color and other student loan borrowers.

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Dec 2, 2020

Research Roundup: Rural Communities and Farmers are at the Forefront of the Student Debt Crisis

A growing body of research demonstrates that student debt is now one of the most important challenges facing America’s rural communities and farmers.

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Press Releases

Dec 1, 2020

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Student Borrower Protection Center Announce Fair Lending Testing Agreement with Upstart Network

Agreement marks new standard for fair lending oversight in financial technology.

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Nov 30, 2020

New Report Uncovers 5 Million Student Loan Servicing Errors, Jeopardizing Loan Forgiveness And Costing Borrowers Thousands

A new investigatory report issued by the Student Borrower Protection Center and the American Federation of Teachers has uncovered millions of student loan servicing errors that have caused lasting financial harm to borrowers.

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