A Deep Dive into the Debate Over Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
As federal student loan repayments resume after a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published an Issue Spotlight on student borrowers’ experiences, using consumer...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 June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court invoked the “major questions doctrine” for the second time, concluding that the Biden Administration’s plan to forgive $430 billion of federal student loans under the Health and...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 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
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
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
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
The saga of ITT Educational Services, Inc. appears to be drawing closer to an end, with ITT’s bankruptcy trustee and attorneys for former ITT students entering into a proposed class action settlement that would permanently...more
The Department of Education has released a memorandum to provide policy direction for the new federal student loan “state-of-the-art loan servicing ecosystem” that the ED is currently procuring. According to the memorandum,...more
The Department of Education has published a notice in the Federal Register inviting comments on its plans to create a new Web site by July 1, 2016 for students and borrowers to file complaints about federal student loans. The...more
The US Department of Education (ED) is preparing for a new rulemaking that is intended to clarify—and very likely expand—the ability of student borrowers to be relieved of the obligation to repay their Federal Direct Loans....more