Blog

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.