Stateline, ContributorStateline provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy. A combined 43 million people owe more than $1.3 trillion in student loans. About 4.6 million of them were in default at the end of last year. 04/10/2018 01:31 pm ET By Elaine S. Povich Marcia “Cia” Price is 37 years old and has more than $90,000 in outstanding student loan debt — more than what she originally owed. Like many indebted former students, Price has had her share of frustrations in trying to navigate the loan repayment thicket, especially during earlier days when she didn’t make a lot of money and needed help restructuring her loan. She’s not alone. The U.S. government says a combined 43 million people owe more than $1.3 trillion in student loans. About 4.6 million people were in default at the end of last year. But Price is unusual in one respect: As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, she’s in a position to help. Price, … [Read more...] about To Help Strapped Borrowers, States Turn To Student Loan Ombudsmen
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Colleges Hire Consultants to Help Manipulate Student Loan Default Rates
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Politics Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Advertisement Supported by ByErica L. Green May 11, 2018 WASHINGTON — Colleges and universities are avoiding federal punishment for high student-loan default rates by hiring consultants who encourage borrowers to delay payments on their loans, even if that will cost them and taxpayers more in the long run, Congress’s nonpartisan watchdog found. In a two-year examination of how colleges and universities manage graduates at risk for defaulting on their loans, the Government Accountability Office found that institutions hired consultants that pressured student borrowers to effectively put their loans on ice — or “in forbearance” — an option that allows borrowers to avoid default. It also allows colleges and universities to avoid losing federal funding because of excessive defaults. The findings by the independent … [Read more...] about Colleges Hire Consultants to Help Manipulate Student Loan Default Rates
Student loan forgiveness: Great in theory, murky in practice
Home Web First Student loan forgiveness: Great in theory,… Law Schools By Jason Tashea Posted February 27, 2019, 6:30 am CST Image from Shutterstock.com. To afford law school, Kyle Ingram borrowed $120,000. Saddled with this significant loan balance at age 27, he sought debt forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Established in 2007, the PSLF Program allows people with federally backed loans to work for a qualifying government or nonprofit public service organization while making payments under one of four federal qualified repayment programs for 120 months. As such, Ingram says he passed up more lucrative opportunities to qualify for the program. Since graduating from the University of Oregon in 2012, Ingram, who’s based Washington, D.C., has worked as an attorney for various federal agencies and currently makes an annual salary of $84,000. Last year, Ingram watched the first cohorts of PSLF applicants file for debt forgiveness. The results … [Read more...] about Student loan forgiveness: Great in theory, murky in practice
New Hampshire Tale (Part 1) re: Student Loan Bond Issues
The IRS Appeals office has dropped the examination of nine student loan bond issues of the New Hampshire Health and Education Facilities Authority. The examination had begun after the Authority entered but then withdrew from the IRS specialized “voluntary closing agreement program” for student loan bonds. The IRS created this specialized VCAP in 2012 as a standalone VCAP outside of its general voluntary closing agreement program.The student loan bond minutiae in this tale might not interest you. But the Appeals office’s decision, which profoundly undermines the central premise of this specialized VCAP, has broader implications.We’ll approach this in two parts. In Part 1, below, we’ll discuss the background of how the New Hampshire case came about. In Part 2 , to come later, we’ll discuss some of the broader implications of the audit for the tax-exempt bond world.The IRS Tax-Exempt Bond Division (“TEB”) announced recently that … [Read more...] about New Hampshire Tale (Part 1) re: Student Loan Bond Issues
CFPB Reports and Acts on Complaints about Student Loan Servicer Handling of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
On June 22, 2017, the CFPB announced a series of actions based on consumer complaints it has received about the manner in which student loan servicers handle the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (“PSLF”) program.PSLF is a federal student loan forgiveness program that provides borrowers in public service jobs, such as teachers, nurses, first responders, military servicemembers, and social workers, with a pathway for fully satisfying their loan obligations based on reduced income-driven repayment (“IDR”) plans over a 10-year period. The program is designed to encourage borrowers to pursue public service careers despite increasing levels of student loan debt, and is administered by the U.S. Department of Education. To qualify for loan forgiveness under the PSLF program, borrowers must: (1) have a qualifying federal Direct Loan; (2) be enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan, meaning an IDR plan; (3) work full-time for a qualified public service employer; and (4) … [Read more...] about CFPB Reports and Acts on Complaints about Student Loan Servicer Handling of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program