Federal Student Loans

2021 Federal Priorities for the Student Debt Crisis

Policy Analysis

Reports, Briefs & Videos

NCLC/SBPC Report: Collection At All Costs: Examining the Intersection of Mass Incarceration and the Student Debt Crisis, July 27, 2022
NCLC/CLASP Report: Disproportionately Impacted: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap through Student Loan Cancellation, Payment Reforms, and Investment in College Affordability, June 2022
NCLC/SBPC/CRL Issue Brief: Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment: An IDR Waiver Program Proposal, Jan. 12, 2022
Issue Brief: Delivering on the Child Tax Credit: Protect Payments from Government Offset, September, 2021
NCLC/CRL Brief: Almost Two in Three Navient Borrowers Enrolled in IDR Plans and Making Payments During COVID-19 Federal Student Loan Payment Pause Are Underwater (Last updated August 2021)
Civil Rights Coalition Brief: Civil Rights Principles for Student Loan Debt Cancellation, April 2021
Policy Brief: Education Department’s Decades-Old Debt Trap: How the Mismanagement of Income-Driven Repayment Locked Millions in Debt, March 2021; press release
Report: How States Can Help Students Harmed by Higher Education Fraud, January 2021; press release
NCLC/CRL report: Road to Relief: Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond, Nov. 2020; press release
Brief: Borrowing From Our Future: The Case for Cancelling Student Debt, Aug. 10, 2020
Report: Voices of Despair – How Seizing the EITC is Leaving Student Loan Borrowers Homeless and Hopeless During a Pandemic, July 2020; press release
Video Explainer: What the CARES Act Means for Repayment of Federal Student Loans, April 21, 2020
Brief: Congress Must Provide Relief to Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers; Recommendations for Higher Education Act Reauthorization, March 2020
Brief: Three Tax Fixes to Improve the Federal Student Aid Program (NCLC and TICAS), March 2020
Fact Sheet: What States Can Do to Protect Consumers: Student Loans, January 2020

More reports, briefs, & videos

Comments

Legal Aid Coalition Comments to ED on Proposed Rules re: Borrower Defense, Arbitration, Interest Capitalization, PSLF, and Discharges for Closed School, False Certification, and Disability, August 12, 2022
Joint Comment Letter to Dept. of Education re: Third Party Authorization Form, March 31, 2022
Joint Comments of NCLC, SBPC, and CRL re: Unified Servicing and Data Solution, March 9, 2022
Joint Memo by NCLC, CLASP & TICAS: Recommendation to Amend Law to Prohibit Offset of EITC and CTC, February 10, 2022
Comment from NCLC and 30 other legal aid and advocacy organizations responding to the Department of Education’s continued use of a borrower defense application form for Corinthian Colleges borrowers, asking that the Department instead provide a group discharge to those borrowers, Feb. 9, 2022
Coalition comments re: Federal Preemption and Joint Federal-State Regulation and Oversight of the Department of Education’s Federal Student Loan Programs and Federal Student Loan Servicers (Docket ID ED-2021-OS-0107), Sept. 13, 2021
Joint NCLC and LAFLA comments to the Department of Education on HEA Negotiated Rulemaking, July 1, 2021
Coalition comments to the Department of Education Sharing its Negotiated Rulemaking Priorities and Concerns About Title IV Funds, July 1, 2021
Comments from NCLC and 37 legal services organizations to the Department of Education on HEA Negotiated Rulemaking, July 1, 2021
Joint comments to the Department of Education re facilitating automatic student loan discharged for certain military veterans, Jan. 27, 2020
Joint comments to the CFPB re: student loan borrower concerns re: proposed debt collection rule, Sept. 18, 2019
Comments to the Department of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Recognition of Accrediting Agencies and Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, July 11, 2019

More comments

Testimony

More testimony

Letters

Coalition Letter to President Biden re: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver & Income-Driven Repayment Adjustment, July 21, 2022
Coalition Letter to Department of Education re: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver & Income-Driven Repayment Adjustment, July 21, 2022
Coalition Letter to President Biden re: extending pause on student loan payments, June 30, 2022
Group letter calling on President Biden to cancel federal student debt immediately via executive action, May 27, 2022
Group letter calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to reform broken, dysfunctional income-driven repayment (IDR) programs and fulfill the promise of IDR, Apr. 7, 2022
Group Letter from over 200 organizations to President Biden urging extension of the pause on student loan payments, March 7, 2022
Group Letter to Secretary Yellen re: CTC and EITC Protection from Offset, February 17, 2022
Group Letter from over 200 organizations to President Biden urging extension of the pause on student loan payments, December 8, 2021
Group Letter to the Department of Education discussing the impact of restarting repayment and involuntary repayment on defaulted borrowers, November 1, 2021
Group Letter to President Biden urging immediate action to extend the current pause on student loan payments, June 24, 2021
Group Letter to Secretary of Education Cardona in Support of Petition to Provide Relief for Borrowers with Disabilities, June 11, 2021
Group Letter to Secretary of Education Cardona Requesting Relief for the Borrower Defense Fund, April 13, 2021
NCLC and SBPC letter to Acting Secretary of Education Rosenfelt Calling for Immediate Covid-19 Relief for Commercial Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) Borrowers, February 16, 2021
NCLC and 237 other organizations call on Biden Administration to Cancel Student Loan Debt on Day 1, Nov. 18, 2020
Group letter to U.S. Senate opposing the Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act, July 28, 2020
Consumer and industry groups’ letter urging Congress to extend CARES Act relief to all federal student loan borrowers, April 13, 2020

More letters

Press Releases

Press Release: President Biden’s Order Canceling Federal Student Loan Debt Will Bring Transformational Relief to Millions, Aug. 24, 2022
Press Release: Department of Education Provides Long Overdue Debt Relief to ITT Tech, Kaplan Students, Aug. 16. 2022
Press Release: New Report Finds Incarcerated Federal Student Loan Borrowers Systematically Denied Access to Student Loan Relief, July 27, 2022
Press Release Report: Student Debt Cancellation Will Help Fix Broken Student Loan System, Close Racial Wealth Gap, June 8, 2022
Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud the Department of Education’s Decision To Cancel Corinthian College Students’ Federal Student Loan Debts, June 2, 2022
Press Release: Biden Administration Sued Again Over Languishing Debt Relief Claims Disproportionately Shouldered by Communities of Color, May 19, 2022
Press Release: Advocates Applaud ED Approval of $238M Discharge for Marinello School of Beauty Borrowers, Apr. 28, 2022
Press Release: Students and Consumer Groups Sue Biden Administration for Failing to Rule on State AG Group Borrower Defense Claims, Apr. 26, 2022
Press Release: Advocates Praise First Steps to Address Longstanding Failures in Income-Driven Loan Program, Apr. 19, 2022
Press Release: The System is Still Broken: 115+ Organizations Renew Push for Overdue Reforms to Income-Driven Repayment (IDR), Apr. 7, 2022
Press Release: Advocates Support Extension of Student Loan Payment Pause and Praise Removal of Loans from Punitive Default System, Apr. 6, 2022
Press Release: Advocates Caution that Payment Pause Should be Extended Until Student Loan System is Fixed, Apr. 5, 2022
Press Release: Statement in Response to CFPB’s Sanctioning of EdFinancial for Deceiving Student Loan Borrowers, Mar. 30, 2022
Joint Press Release: Advocates to Treasury Secretary Yellen: Protect CTC and EITC Payments in Tax Refunds, Feb. 17, 2022
Press Release: Advocates Applaud Department of Education Decision to Protect CTC Payments in Tax Refunds from Seizure, Feb. 9, 2022
Joint Press Release: The System is Broken: 100+ Organizations Urge Biden Administration to Aid Millions of Student Loan Borrowers with Overdue Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Reforms, Feb. 9, 2022
Joint Press Release: Advocacy Groups Request Meeting with Biden Administration Regarding the Impact of Student Loan Debt on Black Women, Jan. 31, 2022
Joint Press Release: Navient Reaches $1.85 Billion Settlement for Defrauding Millions of Students, Jan. 13, 2022
Joint Press Release: Borrower Advocates Demand that Education Department Restore the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment, Jan. 12, 2022
Press Release: NCLC Advocate Applauds the Biden Administration Extension of the Pause on Federal Student Loan Payments, but More Needs to Be Done, Dec. 22, 2021
Press Release: U.S. Department of Education to Extend Federal Student Loan Servicing Contracts for Two Years, Oct. 15, 2021
Press Release: Troubled Servicer Navient to Exit Federal Student Loan System, Sept. 28, 2021
Press Release: Statement in Response to Education Department’s Announcement on Student Loan Discharges for ITT Tech Students, Aug. 26, 2021
Statement of NCLC’s Persis Yu re: extension of student loan payment pause until 2022, Aug. 6, 2021
Statement on PHEAA Not Extending its Servicer Contract with Dept. of Education, July 8, 2021
National Consumer Law Center Advocates Support Education Department Giving Loan Relief for 18,000 Former ITT Students but Urge More Action, June 16, 2021
Statement on Education Department’s Appointment of Richard Cordray to Oversee Trillion Dollar Federal Student Aid, May 4, 2021
NCLC and SPBC Statements on Partial Administrative Action to Protect Student Loan Borrowers During the Pandemic, March 30, 2021
U.S. Department of Education’s Action on Discharges for Borrowers with Total and Permanent Disabilities Falls Short, Mar. 29, 2021
Joint Statement: Advocates Urge President-Elect Biden to Provide More Student Debt Relief, January 8, 2020
Joint Statement: We Applaud Pressley/Omar/Adams/Waters Resolution to Cancel Student, December 22, 2020
NCLC Advocates Applaud Schumer/Warren Senate Resolution Calling for $50,000 in Debt Cancellation for 43 Million Student Loan Borrowers, Sept. 17, 2020
Student Loan Borrowers Need Real Relief, Not a COVID Stimulus Plan that Will Bury Them Deeper in Debt, July 27, 2020
Advocates Praise Senators for Bold Student Loan Principles, March 19, 2020
Covid 19: What the U.S. Dept. of Education, Lenders and Student Loan Borrowers Should Do Now, March 13, 2020

More press releases

Litigation

New York Legal Assistance Group v. Devos and U.S. Department of Education, Amicus Brief and Exhibits 1-3, July 24, 2020
Barber, Jenkins et al vs Devos and U.S. Department of Education, Case 1:20-cv-01137, May 7, 2020. Amended Complaint and Press Release.
Share your story if you have had wages garnished in 2020 for a student loan. NCLC and Student Defense, with support of the Student Borrower Protection Center, filed an emergency APA lawsuit in the D.C. District Court against the U.S. Department of Education seeking to stop its garnishment of wages from defaulted student loan borrowers and to force the agency to immediately comply with Sec. 3513 (e) of the CARES Act that mandates that all such collections be ceased until at least next September. As reported by the Washington Post, the Education Dept. estimates that 285,000 borrowers are still having their wages garnished. A motion for injunctive relief class certification has also been filed.
Bodor v Maximus Federal Services, Inc. Case No. 5:19-cv-05787-EGS in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania, December 19, 2019. Complaint and press release.
Robinson v National Student Clearinghouse, April 18, 2019 Complaint
The Francis & Mailman firm, along with the National Consumer Law Center and Justice Catalyst Law filed a class action lawsuit against the National Student Clearinghouse (“NSC”) in the United States Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit alleges that NSC maintains vast databases housing detailed information about college students and their college enrollment history from which it sells reports to potential creditors, insurers and employers among others. As such, the complaint asserts that NSC is a credit reporting agency under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Massachusetts Credit Reporting Act and that it has violated those statutes by requiring unlawful and excessive charges for consumers to access their files. The complaint also asserts that the disclosure overcharges constitute unfair conduct in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The plaintiff seeks to have the overcharging practices enjoined, the unlawful and excessive charges returned, applicable statutory damages and punitive awards for the willful and knowing violations of the consumer statutes.
National Consumer Law Center v. United States Department of Education, Nov. 16, 2018, Complaint
The National Consumer Law Center filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Education to compel compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). NCLC submitted a FOIA request in October 2017 to ED seeking the release of records associated with ED’s arrangements with Maximus Federal Services, Inc., or any other party operating in whole or in part under the name Default Resolution Group. FOIA requires that agencies have 20 working days to make a determination on the request. To date, thirteen months after receipt of NCLC’s Request, ED has not communicated to NCLC its determination as to NCLC’s Request, nor provided NCLC with any responsive documents.
Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 14 organizations in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant and Reversal in state preemption of consumer protection laws re: student loan servicing (Nelson v. Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., et al, July 2, 2018)
Amicus Curiae Brief of Public Law Center, NCLC, Public Counsel in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Case Challenging Dep’t of Education’s Abandonment of Full Loan Relief for Defrauded Corinthian Students (Manriquez v. DeVos, April 16, 2018)
Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Bauer v. DeVos, September 28, 2017)
Amici Curiae Brief of National Consumer Law Center and 17 organizations in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment in Case Challenging Department of Education’s Delay of Borrower Defense Rule (Commonwealth of Mass. et al v. Department of Education, September 28, 2017)
Case against the United States Department of Education: The National Consumer Law Center is co-counsel in a Freedom of Information Act suit requesting public records of the U.S. Department of Education regarding race and debt collection practices of third-party debt collectors hired by the Department: Complaint, Exhibit 1 (FOIA request, May 7, 2015), Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, and Exhibit 4, and press release

Student Loans Policy Analysis Archive

2021 Federal Priorities for the Student Debt Crisis

Policy Analysis

Litigation

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