Department of Education Announces Actions to Fix Longstanding Failures in the Student Loan Programs
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Posted By: Kennedy Williams on April 19, 2022 Today, the Department of Education announced steps that will bring borrowers closer to public service loan and income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness by addressing historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan programs. Federal Student Aid (FSA) estimates that these changes will result in immediate debt cancellation for at least 40,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgiveness through IDR. More than 3.6 million borrowers will also receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness. “Student loans were never meant to be a life sentence, but it’s certainly felt that way for borrowers locked out of debt relief they’re eligible for,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today, the Department of Education will begin to remedy years of administrative failures that effectively denied the promise of loan forgiveness to certain borrowers enrolled in IDR plans. These actions once again demonstrate the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to delivering meaningful debt relief and ensuring federal student loan programs are administered fairly and effectively.” These actions are part of the Department’s commitment to address historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan program and support student loan borrowers through the pandemic. They also help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on borrowers with lower incomes and high debt loads. Today’s steps will help restore the promise of IDR plans by ensuring that borrowers have an affordable and effective path out of debt. Beyond the immediate corrective actions announced today that will provide relief to borrowers harmed in the past, FSA will take action to ensure that borrowers receive these benefits in the future. Below are the actions being taken today. Ending “Forbearance Steering” Department regulations require that borrowers who are facing difficulty making their loan payments get clear and accurate information from servicers about their options for staying out of delinquency, including IDR plans, and the financial consequences of choosing short-term options like forbearance. However, FSA reviews suggest that loan servicers placed borrowers into forbearance in violation of Department rules, even when their monthly payment under an IDR plan could have been as low as zero dollars. These findings are consistent with concerns raised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general. A borrower advised to choose an IDR plan instead of forbearance can get a reduced payment, stay in good standing, and make progress toward loan forgiveness. A borrower advised to choose forbearance – particularly long-term consecutive or serial uses of forbearance – can see their loan balance and monthly payments grow due to interest capitalization and lead to delinquency or default. The Department will address forbearance steering by: Conducting a One-Time Account Adjustment to Count Certain Long-Term Forbearances toward IDR and PSLF Forgiveness Borrowers steered or inappropriately placed into long-term forbearances miss out on critical progress toward IDR and PSLF forgiveness; this can set them back years. The Department’s regulations and servicer contracts have safeguards, including a 12-month limit for any single use of forbearance, and a 36-month cumulative limit on discretionary forbearance. A review of past forbearance use shows that long-term use of forbearance was remarkably widespread. More than 13% of all Direct Loan borrowers between July 2009 and March 2020 have used forbearance for at least 36 months cumulatively. These changes will be applied automatically to borrowers’ accounts later this year. To mitigate the harms of inappropriate steering into long-term forbearance, FSA will conduct a one-time account adjustment that will count forbearances of more than 12 months consecutive and more than 36 months cumulative toward forgiveness under IDR and PSLF. Borrowers who were steered into shorter-term forbearances will be able to seek account review by filing a complaint with the FSA Ombudsman at StudentAid.gov/feedback. Increasing Oversight of Servicers’ Forbearance Use FSA will target forbearance steering by restricting servicers’ ability to enroll borrowers in forbearance by text or email, conducting an external review of patterns of forbearance use and servicers’ practices to identify other potential changes to address steering, and working in partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to do regular audits of forbearance use. This will build upon other FSA efforts to improve oversight of loan servicing activities, including stronger accountability provisions in servicing contracts, renewing partnerships with federal and state regulators and clarifying its position on federal preemption of state oversight of loan servicing. FSA will begin implementing these changes immediately, but borrowers may not see the effect in their accounts until the last quarter of 2022. To read the remainder of the press release that explains additional steps taken to help at least 3.6 million borrowers move closer to debt forgiveness, and 40,000 borrowers to receive immediate forgiveness, visit ed.gov . If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Kennedy Williams
From Loganville, GA Spelman College class of 2020 Member Since July 2016 |
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