All Issues

Student Loans

As the cost of financing the higher education system falls increasingly on students, student loan debt has risen at alarming rates. Although student debt is a problem that crosses class and racial lines, low-income and Black students are much more likely to borrow, to borrow more, and to struggle with repayment. Relief options are confusing, servicing is often poor, and borrowers pay the price.

Key Topics

Federal Student Loans

Improving the federal student loan system on which millions rely.

Predatory For-Profit Schools

Stopping predatory for-profit colleges from harming students.

Private Student Loans & ISAs

Protecting borrowers against abusive private student loan and income-share agreement practices.

Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project

NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project is a resource for borrowers, their families, and advocates representing student loan borrowers.

Learn More

Featured

Recent Resources

View All for Recent Resources
Delivering Distress to Borrowers in Default

October 11, 2023

Comments in Response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Income-Driven Repayment Plan (IDR) Request Form

October 10, 2023

Advocates Applaud the Department of Education’s Common Sense Gainful Employment Rule

September 28, 2023

Fortune: Advice for student loan borrowers now the payment pause is over (Video)

September 17, 2023

Coalition Letter Opposing CRA That Would Overturn the SAVE Plan

September 14, 2023

Comments in Response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Application Form

September 8, 2023

The American Prospect: Student Borrowers Report Chaos and Confusion as Repayment Looms

August 31, 2023

The American Prospect: Student Borrowers Report Chaos and Confusion as Repayment Looms

August 31, 2023

NerdWallet: From ‘I Do’ to IDR: What the New SAVE Plan Means for Married Student Loan Borrowers

August 24, 2023

Comments & Letters

View All for Comments & Letters
Comments in Response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Income-Driven Repayment Plan (IDR) Request Form

October 10, 2023

Coalition Letter Opposing CRA That Would Overturn the SAVE Plan

September 14, 2023

Comments in Response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Application Form

September 8, 2023

NCLC Comments to Education Department Regarding Intent to Establish Rulemaking Committee on Student Debt Relief

July 20, 2023

Comments from the Legal Aid Community to the Department of Education re Administrative Capability and Ability to Benefit

June 20, 2023

Legal Aid Comments to Dep’t of Education re: School Participation in Federal Student Aid (Administrative Capability and Ability to Benefit)

June 20, 2023

Comments to the Dept of Education on Accountability Regulations in Higher Education

June 20, 2023

Comments to California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Regarding Education Financing and Student Debt Relief Services

May 17, 2023

Group Comments to the Department of Education Regarding Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Programs Authorized Under Title IV

April 24, 2023

Reports

View All for Reports
Collection At All Costs: Examining the Intersection of Mass Incarceration and the Student Debt Crisis

July 12, 2022

Disproportionately Impacted: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap through Student Loan Cancellation, Payment Reforms, and Investment in College Affordability

June 8, 2022

How States Can Help Students Harmed by Higher Education Fraud

January 12, 2021

Report: Road to Relief – Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond

November 17, 2020

Voices of Despair: How Seizing the EITC is Leaving Student Loan Borrowers Homeless and Hopeless During a Pandemic

November 10, 2020

Gainful Employment: A Civil Rights Perspective

October 1, 2019

Voices of Despair: Student Borrowers Trapped in Poverty When the Government Seizes Their Earned Income Tax Credit (2018)

March 13, 2018

Pushed into Poverty: How Student Loan Collections Threaten the Financial Security of Older Americans 

May 9, 2017

Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Cost of the Government’s Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies

September 17, 2014

Issue Briefs

View All for Issue Briefs
Delivering Distress to Borrowers in Default

October 11, 2023

Chapter Summary on Helping Older Borrowers Navigate the Changing Federal Student Loan System

March 31, 2023

2023 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

January 13, 2023

Get Up to $20,000 of Your Student Loans Canceled

October 20, 2022

2022 Consumer Protection Federal Priorities

February 18, 2022

Joint Memo: Recommendation to Prohibit Offset of Refundable Tax Credits that Support Low-Income Workers and Families

February 10, 2022

Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment: An IDR Waiver Program Proposal

January 11, 2022

Delivering on the Child Tax Credit: Protect Payments from Government Offset

September 15, 2021

Almost Two in Three Navient Borrowers Making Payments During COVID-19 Federal Student Loan Payment Pause Are Underwater

August 1, 2021

Testimony

View All for Testimony
Testimony: Protecting Students and Taxpayers – Improving the Closed School Discharge Process

October 21, 2021

Testimony of Persis Yu regarding Protecting Student Loan Borrowers and the Economy in Upcoming Transitions

July 27, 2021

A $1.5 Trillion Crisis: Protecting Student Borrowers and Holding Student Loan Servicers Accountable

September 10, 2019

Press Releases & News

View All for Press Releases & News
Advocates Applaud the Department of Education’s Common Sense Gainful Employment Rule

September 28, 2023

Fortune: Advice for student loan borrowers now the payment pause is over (Video)

September 17, 2023

The American Prospect: Student Borrowers Report Chaos and Confusion as Repayment Looms

August 31, 2023

The American Prospect: Student Borrowers Report Chaos and Confusion as Repayment Looms

August 31, 2023

NerdWallet: From ‘I Do’ to IDR: What the New SAVE Plan Means for Married Student Loan Borrowers

August 24, 2023

Business Insider: How private lenders have left millions of college students with no hope for the future

August 21, 2023

New Action Brings Much-Needed Relief to 800,000+ Student Borrowers; More Help Needed for Borrowers in Default

July 14, 2023

NPR: Student loan forgiveness is on the way for more than 800,000 borrowers

July 14, 2023

Digital Library: Student Loan Borrower Rights After the Supreme Court Ruling

July 10, 2023

Amicus Briefs

View All for Amicus Briefs
Brief in Biden v. Nebraska & Brown v. U.S. Department of Education

January 11, 2023

Amicus Brief in NYLAG v. DeVos

July 24, 2020

Support NCLC

Please support NCLC's work to advance consumer rights and economic justice with a tax-deductible contribution today!

Donate