Abby Shafroth

Senior Attorney

Abby Shafroth is a senior attorney and director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center. Abby is an expert on the federal student loan program, as well as on the intersection of criminal and consumer law. She has represented the interests of students and legal aid organizations on federal and state policy committees and is a lead author of NCLC’s Student Loan Law and a contributing author of Collection Actions. Abby has written numerous reports, issue briefs, and op-eds on student loans and criminal justice debt, and frequently presents on these topics. Prior to joining NCLC, Abby litigated civil rights and employment class actions at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Washington, D.C., worked as an attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Richard A. Paez of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Abby is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Featured Work

Op-Ed in The Hill: Ending the black hole that’s devouring student loan payments

Early in Aubrey Plaza’s recent movie, Emily the Criminal, her character is seen calling her student loan servicer, between food delivery shifts, to ask why her recent $400 payment wasn’t applied to her balance. She is stunned by the response: “It was applied to my interest? Sorry, how much interest is being added a month?” The…
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Twelve Dramatic Changes Offering Relief for Student Loan Borrowers

There have been dramatic changes in 2021 and 2022 making it easier for tens of millions of student loan borrowers to cancel or repay their debt. This article highlights twelve of the most significant changes.  Additional information is found in NCLC’s Student Loan Law and at studentloanborrowerassistance.org.  But the changes do not stop here.  Expect…
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NCLC Advocate Applauds the Biden Administration Extension of the Pause on Federal Student Loan Payments, but More Needs to Be Done  

December 22, 2021 In response to the Biden Administration extending the pause on federal student loans payment until May 1, 2022, Abby Shafroth, interim director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, issued the following statement: “Today’s announcement means that over the holidays, struggling student loan borrowers will not be forced…
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