Student Loans

Federal Student Loans

The vast majority of student loans are federal student loans, with terms and conditions set by the federal government. Unfortunately, the system has failed many of the low-income students and students of color who rely on it to access postsecondary education, with many burdened by unaffordable and often ballooning debt. NCLC works to reform the federal student loan system and help borrowers access relief.

Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project

Over the years there have been a number of changes to the federal student loans offered to borrowers, and only some loans qualify for certain benefits and programs. NCLC’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project can help you figure out what type of federal loan you have.

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

July 10, 2023

With the payment pause ending this fall, 45 million student loan borrowers across the country will be scrambling to figure out how to manage their federal student loans when payments come due.

Read More about: Digital Library: Student Loan Borrower Rights After the Supreme Court Ruling
June 30, 2023
June 30, 2023

Featured

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The Department is Automatically Canceling the Loans of Some Borrowers Who Attended Predatory Schools: What Borrowers Need To Know

September 12, 2022

Congress Passes Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act to Relieve Divorced Spouses of Shared Student Loan Debt

September 22, 2022

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

Comments & Letters

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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

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

June 20, 2023

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

April 24, 2023

Legal Aid Organizations’ Comments in Response to Proposed Borrower Defense to Loan Repayment Universal Forms

April 3, 2023

Coalition Letter to U.S. Department of Education Regarding its Examination of Bundled Services and an Incentive Compensation Loophole

March 16, 2023

Comments by Legal Aid Organizations to the Department of Education on Proposed Student Loan Income-Driven Repayment Rule 

February 10, 2023

Reports

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

June 8, 2022

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

July 12, 2022

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

November 17, 2020

Gainful Employment: A Civil Rights Perspective

October 1, 2019

Report: Inequitable Judgments – Examining Race and Federal Student Loan Collection Lawsuits

April 16, 2019

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

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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

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

New Process to Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy

March 7, 2023

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

October 20, 2022

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

February 10, 2022

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

August 1, 2021

Education Department’s Decades-Old Debt Trap: How the Mismanagement of Income-Driven Repayment Locked Millions in Debt

March 1, 2021

Testimony

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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

Testimony of Joanna Darcus regarding “An Examination of State Efforts to Oversee the $1.5 Trillion Student Loan Servicing Market”

June 11, 2019

Testimony of NCLC Attorney John Rao at the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on “Oversight of Bankruptcy Law and Legislative Proposals” 

July 25, 2019

Press Releases & News

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Congress Passes Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act to Relieve Divorced Spouses of Shared Student Loan Debt

September 22, 2022

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

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

August 24, 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

Marketplace: As student loan repayments are set to restart, the Education Department looks to ease the transition

July 3, 2023

Protecting Student Borrowers after U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Student Debt Relief

June 30, 2023

From the NCLC Digital Library

Student Loan Law

NCLC’s Student Loan Law treatise details all the latest rights of student loan debtors, including loan forgiveness for the schools’ deceptive practices, financial hardship and other loan deferments, and more. The treatise covers multiple types of student loans, including private student loans.

Read Chapter One

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