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  1. What We Do
  2. State & Local Projects
  3. State Regulatory Advocacy

State Regulatory Advocacy

State financial regulators oversee the practices of firms that lend, service, and collect on debt owed by families across the country.

State financial regulators can be families’ best defense when financial companies make predatory loans or engage in sloppy servicing or abusive debt collection. State financial regulators license and supervise financial companies, and some can bring lawsuits to win justice for borrowers harmed by unlawful industry conduct. These agencies may also write the rules that govern how financial firms participate in the economy, including guardrails that protect families from mismanagement and abuse.

What We’re Doing

We work to help state financial regulators defend families from financial firms’ abuses—passing new laws to empower these agencies, building cases against firms that break these laws, providing technical assistance as agencies write rules to protect borrowers, and educating states about emerging issues and schemes. See below to learn more about our work to strengthen state oversight across the economy.

Latest Work


  • Press Releases
    Nov 5, 2025

    Amid Student Loan System Chaos, Advocates, Local Officials, and Community Members Convene in Louisville to Discuss Local Response

    Louisville Office of Financial Empowerment and Protect Borrowers reveal data on nearly 215,000 Louisville borrowers in $8.2 billion of student debt.

    More


  • Press Releases
    Apr 17, 2025

    Community Roundtable: Kern County Families to Discuss the Impact of Proposed Budget Cuts on Education Access

    Advisory for Wednesday, April 23.

    More


  • News Clips
    Apr 10, 2024

    Oregon borrowers, consumer advocates call for more accountability among student loan servicers

    Mike Pierce of the Student Borrower Protection Center agreed that more accountability is needed, noting the federal government relies heavily on private contractors to service federal loans.

    More


  • Letters & Memos
    May 1, 2022

    Memo: Transcript and diploma withholding

    States have an opportunity to ban transcript and diploma withholding at academic institutions, allowing students to access documentation of their earned credits and move forward with their educations and careers.

    More


  • Reports
    Apr 22, 2021

    Discrimination is Unfair: Interpreting UDA(A)P to Prohibit Discrimination

    This report from the SBPC and Relman Colfax attorneys Stephen Hayes and Kali Schellenberg, examines how laws prohibiting unfair, deceptive (and sometimes abusive) acts and practices (“UDA(A)Ps”) can be applied to combat discrimination in the student loan market and beyond.

    More


  • News Clips
    Apr 9, 2021

    States Step In To Stop Colleges Holding Transcripts Ransom For Unpaid Bills

    Several states have passed or are considering laws to curb the practice of blocking students who owe money from obtaining their transcripts. California last year became the first state in which public and private higher educational institutions were banned from holding back the transcripts of students who have unpaid debts. A new Washington State law requires that students who owe money be allowed to get their transcripts to apply for jobs. A coalition…

    More


  • Reports
    May 21, 2020

    Federalism to the Rescue

    Today, the Student Borrower Protection Center released new research developed as part of its Student Loan Justice Fellowship Program to help answer this question. The report, written by SBPC fellow Brian Shearer, builds a case for how states can oversee the nonbank companies at the center of the $1.6 trillion student loan market. The report also offers a path forward for states to oversee other critical nonbank financial institutions that play large roles…

    More


  • News Clips
    Dec 7, 2019

    Opinion: Charley Olena and Tariq Habash: Student borrowers in Colorado should have greater protections against predatory practices

    More


  • Testimony & Remarks
    Dec 4, 2019

    Testimony of Katherine Welbeck Before The Assembly Select Committee on Student Debt

    Testimony of Katherine Welbeck Before the California Assembly Select Committee on Student Debt: Student Debt Impacts on California Neighborhoods

    More


  • Testimony & Remarks
    Mar 27, 2019

    Testimony Before the California Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance

    Seth Frotman’s testimony at the California Assembly hearing, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: An Examination of the CFPB under the current Federal Administration and Options for California to Protect its Consumers.

    More

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