In light of recent closures of certain for-profit colleges, we wanted to share some helpful advice to help you navigate the situation.
Along with the U.S. Department of Education, today we announced more than $480 million in forgiveness for borrowers who took out Corinthian College’s high-cost private student loans. Check out our special bulletin for current and former students enrolled at Corinthian-owned schools for more information.
Today, we’re asking several players in the student loan industry to find out what progress they’ve made. We’re looking to find out what loan modification options lenders and servicers provide, how customers can learn about their repayment options, and how borrowers can get approved. This effort also complements the work of the CFPB and our other regulators to help prevent repayment problems for future borrowers.
For all of you faced with student loan payments and crafting New Year’s resolutions to conquer your debt, we’ve put together some tips to help you navigate through the noise.
We are warning all student loan borrowers who have trouble managing their student debt to watch out for scams run by companies promising “student debt relief.” These companies prey on distressed borrowers who run into trouble and struggle to figure out what comes next.
We encourage all consumers to check their credit report regularly, but we want to especially encourage veterans who use this benefit to be sure that their student loan servicer (the company that collects payments) is providing correct information about their loan discharge to credit bureaus (the companies that compile and sell credit reports).
Our new report summarizes complaints from private student loan borrowers about difficulties faced when working with a lender or servicer to avoid default. We also have steps you can take to get valuable information on repayment options to reduce your monthly payment or to temporarily postpone making payments. Learn more about the report and steps you can take.
Student loan borrowers working in public service have access to a range of existing benefits designed to help them manage their debt.
We called on financial institutions to publicly disclose agreements with institutions of higher education to market financial products to students and decided to take a look at the financial institution partners of a group of some of the largest universities in America to see if they’ve disclosed agreements on their websites. Very few of them did. We’re also sending alerts to schools to make sure they know that their bank partner has not yet committed to transparency when it comes to student financial products.
When you’re told that your college will be shutting down, there can be a lot of uncertainty about what comes next. Here are some options to help you navigate the situation. Read more to see what your options are if your school is shut down.
Today, we released a report that describes complaints we received related to the private student loan industry’s practice of placing borrowers in default even when their loans are current and in good standing. Take a look at our consumer advisory and sample letters for borrowers and co-signers.
While rates aren’t set in stone yet, interest rates on new federal student loans are expected to jump this July. We’ve updated our Paying for College tool using our best guess of what the rates will be, so you can have a better estimate of what your monthly payment might be after graduation.
Some of these agreements were difficult to find, but here are a few examples of the different agreements financial institutions have with colleges and universities. We didn’t verify whether these agreements are current, but the examples give us a sense of how some of these agreements work.
In particular, we frequently hear that the process to allocate an extra payment to your loan with the highest interest rate – generally the best way to reduce your overall interest expense – is hard to navigate.
This morning, CFPB Director Richard Cordray, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Acting Deputy Treasury Secretary Mary Miller convened a meeting with the nation’s largest private student lenders and servicers who work with millions of borrowers and their families.
Today, Director Cordray is alerting financial institutions about the potentially risky practice of making secret payments to colleges and universities to market deposit accounts, prepaid cards, debit cards, and other financial products to students. We’re calling on financial institutions to voluntarily make these agreements available on their websites. We’re also releasing a report on college […]
A number of recent graduates have asked us: why is my student loan interest rate so high? And how can I more quickly pay off this loan? Often borrowers have several loans at different interest rates. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of interest you pay each month, you’ll want to look into whether […]
Get more information like this Email address: Sign up Over the last several years, many Americans have been able to save on monthly payments on their mortgages and other loans by refinancing to the low interest rates available in the market. Unfortunately, with few refinancing options, many student loan borrowers tell us they feel stuck […]
This fall, college graduates across the country will start to send payments on their student loans to their servicers. Loan servicers are companies that collect payments on all sorts of loans, including mortgages, auto loans, and student loans. Sometimes, the original lender will be the one collecting payments. But often, a loan servicer is chosen […]
Many college students receive scholarships, grants, and student loans to help them pay rent, get to and from school, and cover other costs, like textbooks. We issued this consumer advisory to help students better understand their options when it comes to managing their scholarships and student loans. Learn more about accessing your funds.
A few weeks ago, we released new estimates on the size of the student loan market, which is approaching $1.2 trillion, with federal student loans crossing the $1 trillion mark. While there’s been a lot of discussion about changes to federal student loan interest rates on new loans, many of you have asked: what’s happening with the trillion that’s already been borrowed? We took a closer look and here’s what we found.
Today, we released a mid-year update analyzing complaints from private student loan borrowers. The update explores some of the challenges consumers face when dealing with their lenders and servicers. Last October, we published a report that detailed problems reported by borrowers. We found that student loan borrowers expressed frustration about their lack of repayment options […]
You told us about a number of debt relief companies that promise thousands of dollars in savings on borrowers’ student debt – an offer that may seem too good to be true. Borrowers sometimes think that the quickest way to deal with their student loan debt is to pay someone to contact their creditor. When […]
Here are some answers to your questions about the changes in federal student loan interest rates that are scheduled to take effect on July 1.
We recently published a report on student loan affordability, which discussed the potential impact of student debt on small business starts and entrepreneurship. In the past few weeks, we’ve met with a number of young entrepreneurs and innovators working in the technology sector. We asked about the roadblocks they’ve experienced when trying to build new […]
