A Deep Dive into the Debate Over Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlighted its observations of the resumption of federal student loan payments by consumers after more than three years of a payment moratorium due to COVID-19 in a report released on...more
The White House signaled last week that, with the resumption of federal student loan payments, federal student loan servicers can expect to face increased scrutiny. The Department of Education issued a “Framework for Student...more
As part of its pledge to improve student loan programs and advance diversity and opportunity in higher education, the Biden administration has forgiven a total of $127 billion in student debt for 3.6 million borrowers,...more
Higher education clients who accept federal student loans may have recently received emails from the Department of Education (“Department”) notifying them of borrower defense claims seeking to avoid loan repayment obligations...more
On March 27, Republican lawmakers Representative Bob Good (R-VA) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Department of Education’s (DOE)...more
Federal Student Aid’s Office of Enforcement announced a “secret shoppers” program as one of many tools to evaluate a college or university’s recruitment, enrollment, financial aid and other practices. The secret shoppers...more
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) recently surprised the higher education community with a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL GEN-23-03) that sets forth new guidance on third-party servicers with whom institutions of...more
On Thursday, the Department of Education announced that, in certain circumstances, it will require leaders of institutions to assume personal liability as a condition of Title IV Federal Student Aid participation....more
Building on its previous efforts to reduce the cost of federal student loans, the Department of Education (DOE), as directed by the Biden-Harris administration, proposed a new rule on Tuesday, January 10, that would reform...more
On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to revise its regulations governing student loan discharge standards...more
Our Education Team examines how the Borrower Defense Rule is again expanding under the Biden Administration, beginning with a huge decision involving, for the first time, for-profit schools that are still operating. Nearly...more
On October 4, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) commenced the first of five negotiated rulemaking sessions. The five sessions are focused on the federal student financial aid programs authorized under Title IV of...more
After reviewing the existing types of federal student loans and forgiveness programs, we discuss the current political debate over forgiveness, including the Education Dept.’s upcoming analysis of the President’s forgiveness...more
The Department of Education has announced that it has selected former CFPB Director Richard Cordray as the Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid. In addition to having served as CFPB Director, Mr. Cordray formerly...more
On August 8, 2020, President Trump signed four executive orders that are designed to provide additional COVID-19 relief as talks on Capitol Hill collapsed on August 7 between White House negotiators and Democratic leaders...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Navient Corp. that the PA Attorney General could bring a parallel enforcement action against Navient, a servicer of federal...more
As we’ve been tracking for over a year now, courts across the country have addressed the significant question of whether the federal laws governing federally owned or guaranteed student loans preempt state laws placing...more
On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education issued an announcement, “Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19),” to address concerns arising with respect...more
Taking a step that undoubtedly presages further coordinated action, state officials holding the title of Student Loan Ombudsman or comparable titles sent a joint letter to Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and...more
Last week, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requesting information about how OCR “plans to address alarming racial...more
A group of 22 state Attorneys General have sent a letter to the Department of Education seeking information “to determine whether the [ED] is providing relief to thousands of former ITT Tech students as required by federal...more
Culminating two years of negotiated rulemaking, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published on Aug. 30, 2019, new "Institutional Accountability" regulations that apply to all federal student loans disbursed...more
On September 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (ED or the Department) published in the Federal Register final regulations on Institutional Accountability, which revise its current regulations on borrower defenses to...more
A recent Department of Education inquiry regarding transfers of guardianship of college-aged students in Illinois is making news across the country. The Department’s Office of the Inspector General is looking into the...more
A Federal Register entry published last week details a proposed data-sharing arrangement between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Education (DoE) designed to reduce the amount of interest that certain...more