Appearing in The Hill on Jan. 8, 2025, Lexi Lonas Cochran spoke to Abby Shafroth, managing director of advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center about changes coming to student loan repayment that will impact low-income borrowers.
“We’re looking at, pretty soon, being at a place where there are 10 million Americans with federal student loans in default, and while some of the harshest consequences of default had long been turned off, the new administration has been announcing the benefits of turning back on and beginning some of the harsh collection methods that can be more financially destabilizing for struggling families,” said Abby Shafroth, managing director of advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center.
“This is the first tax full tax season … since 2019 that the Department of Education is going to be seizing money directly out of tax refunds, and potentially for many borrowers, their whole tax refunds to collect on student loans,” Shafroth said.
“Again … roughly 5 [million] to 10 million borrowers in default could have their tax refunds, including refunds attributable things like the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, that are important anti-poverty measures for children,” she added.
Support NCLC
Please support NCLC's work to advance consumer rights and economic justice with a tax-deductible contribution today!
Donate