Policy Analysis

Policy Briefs, Reports and Press Releases

• NCLC Attorney to Testify at U.S. Department of Education In Support of Important Protections against For-Profit School Fraud, July 10, 2017
• NCLC Advocates Condemn U.S. Department of Education Blocking Important Protections against For-Profit School Fraud, July 6, 2017
• Press Release and Report: Pushed into Poverty: How Student Loan Collections Threaten the Financial Security of Older Americans, May 2017 
• Statement: NCLC Advocate Statement re: Education Secretary Withdrawal of Critical Student Loan Borrower Protections. April 11, 2017
• Issue Brief: Defend the Department of Education's Borrower Defense Rule, January 2017
• Press Release: Statement re: CFPB Suit Against Navient Student Loan Servicer, January 18, 2017
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud CFPB for Highlighting Older Student Loan Borrowers, January 5, 2017
• Press Release: GAO Report Shows Draconian Consequences of SSA Offsets for Student Loan Borrowers, Dec. 20, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Applaud New Rules Designed to Better Protect Online Students from Predatory Schools, Dec. 16, 2016
• Press Release: CFPB Report Shows Student Loan Rehabilitation Fails Many Borrowers, Oct. 17, 2016
• Policy Brief: Stop Taking the Earned Income Tax Credit from Struggling Student Loan Borrowers, October 2016
• Press Release: Advocates Applaud CFPB Action Against Bridgepoint Education for Predatory Student Lending Practices, Sept. 12, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC Advocates Commend Department of Education’s Actions against ITT to Protect Students and Taxpayers, Aug. 26, 2016
• Press Release: NCLC and NACBA Laud CFPB for Stopping Illegal Practices by Student Loan Servicers and U.S. Dept. of Education Debt Collectors, Mar. 8, 2016
• 47 Groups Call on Department of Education to Halt Federal Funding for Predatory Schools That Deny Students’ Legal Rights, March 4, 2016
• Updated Report: Ensuring Educational Integrity: 10 Steps to Improve State Oversight of For-Profit Schools, June 2014, Update to Step 2: Protecting Online Education Students, Dec. 2015
• Press Release: New Education Rules Will Protect Students from High Fee Campus Prepaid and Debit Cards, Oct. 27, 2015
• Press Release: 78,000 Individuals and 50 Organizations Urge the U.S. Department of Education to Grant Debt Relief to Corinthian Colleges' Students, May 19, 2015
• Statement before the Middle Class Prosperity Project: Tackling the Student Debt Crisis, Apr. 2, 2015
• Report: Pounding Student Loan Borrowers: The Heavy Costs of the Government's Partnership with Debt Collection Agencies, Sept. 2014
• Going to School on Robo-signing: How to Help Borrowers and Stop the Abuses in Private Student Loan Collection Cases, April 2014
• Report: Improving college success for poor students, March 2014
• Report: The Sallie Mae Saga: A Government-Created, Student Debt Fueled Profit Machine, January 2014
• Report: Searching for Relief: Desperate Borrowers and the Growing Student Loan "Debt Relief" Industry
• Report: The Student Loan Default Trap

Testimony and Comments

• Comments to the DOE re: Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; on Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment, July 12, 2017 and Consumer Groups' Letter to Secretary of Education
• Testimony of NCLC attorney Joanna Darcus before the U.S. Department of Education re: Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Public Hearings on Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment, July 10, 2017 and Press Release
• Comments to Proposed Loan Discharge Applications, June 26, 2017
• Group comments on the fees charged on campus debit cards, June 8, 2017 
• Testimony of Joanna Darcus before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure in Support of An Act Establishing a Student Tuition Recovery Fund, June 6, 2017
• Comments from NCLC to the Department of Education on the Proposed Loan Discharge Application for Forgery, March 24, 2017
• Coalition letter to Congress from 50+ organizations supporting rules designed to protect students and taxpayers from fraud and abuse in higher education, Mar. 22, 2017
• Legal Aid Coalition Comments to the Department of Education re: Proposed Borrower Defense Application Form, Oct. 27, 2016
• Comments from NCLC and 10 other legal aid groups to the Dep’t of Educ. re Proposed Regulations Regarding State Authorization of Distance Education Programs, Aug. 24, 2016
• Coalition Comments of 41 student, veteran, civil rights, and consumer groups re: the Department of Education's Proposals on Forced Arbitration, Class-Action Bans, and Mandatory Internal Dispute Processes​, ​Aug. 1, 2016
• Comments from NCLC and 16 other legal aid groups to the Dept. of Education re: Proposed Regulations on Borrower Defenses and Use of Forced Arbitration by Schools in the Direct Loan Program, and Proposed Amendments to Closed School and False Certification Discharge Regulations, Aug. 1, 2016
• Coalition comments regarding borrower defense from 56 organizations that advocate for students, veterans, service members, civil rights, consumers, and college faculty and staff, Aug. 1, 2016
• Coalition comments to U.S. Dept. of Education: suggestions for creating a system that promotes quality and consistent servicing, July 15, 2016
• Comments to the New York State Education Department and Board of Regents Opposing Proposed SARA Rules, June 16, 2016
• Group comments urging the FTC to retain and strengthen the Holder Rule, Feb. 12, 2016
• NCLC's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project comments to the CFPB re: student loan servicing, July 13, 2015

Letters

• NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project letter to the CFPB and U.S. Department of Education re: how the removal of the online Data Retrieval Tool might negatively impact student loan borrowers’ ability to renew Income-Driven-Repayment plans, April 14, 2017 || CFPB response letter, May 2, 2017
• Coalition letter to Congressional Leadership re: Importance of CFPB to Protecting Student Loan Borrowers, Feb. 13, 2017
• Coalition letter to President Obama recommending improvements to the new federal student loan complaint system, Oct. 25, 2016
• Coalition Letter to Sec. King Calling for a Halt to Collection Against Former Corinthian Students and Automatic Student Loan Relief, Oct. 19, 2016
• Coalition letter to Education Secretary King on impact of student loans on borrowers of color, Aug. 17, 2016 || Press Release
• Coalition letter to Congress opposing amendments that would block the U.S. Dept. of Education’s gainful employment regulations, June 21, 2016
• Comment letter to the Massachusetts State Senate Opposing Proposed SARA Amendment, May 23, 2016
• Coalition letter urging New York State Commissioner of Education not to sign onto the Unified State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement because it does not adequately protect consumers from predatory for-profit colleges, March 14, 2016
• Coalition letter urging Department of Defense not to lift order barring University of Phoenix from any recruitment-type activities on DoD installations and suspending the payment of Tuition Assistance to new or transfer students, Oct. 27, 2015

Litigation

• Case against the United States Department of Education: The National Consumer Law Center is co-counsel in a Freedom of Information Act suit requesting public records of the U.S. Department of Education regarding race and debt collection practices of third-party debt collectors hired by the Department: Complaint, Exhibit 1 (FOIA request, May 7, 2015), Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, and Exhibit 4, and press release