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

January 1, 2007

The National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project is a related website for borrowers, their families, and advocates representing student loan borrowers.

Read More about: Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project
September 3, 2022
August 24, 2022

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

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

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

March 31, 2023

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

March 16, 2023

New Process to Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy

March 7, 2023

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

February 10, 2023

Group Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Comment to the Department of Education on Proposed Student Loan Income-Driven Repayment Rule

February 10, 2023

Comments & Letters

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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

Group Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Comment to the Department of Education on Proposed Student Loan Income-Driven Repayment Rule

February 10, 2023

Letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren addressing the president’s authority to cancel student debt

February 7, 2023

Letter to Congress Urging Repeal of Tax on Pell Grants

November 28, 2022

Letter to California DFPI Regarding Proposed Changes to Regulations Under the Student Loan Servicing Act

October 28, 2022

Group Letter on the Implementation of Joint Consolidation Separation Act

October 12, 2022

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

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

2021 Student Loan Federal Priorities

December 1, 2020

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

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

September 22, 2022

NCLC Advocates Attend SCOTUS Arguments, Rally in Support of Student Debt Cancellation

February 28, 2023

NCLC Advocates to Attend SCOTUS Arguments, Rally in Support of Student Debt Cancellation

February 24, 2023

Proposed Changes to Income-Driven Repayment Improve Student Loan Affordability, But Problems Remain

January 10, 2023

Experts React to the Briefs Filed in SCOTUS Case Challenging President Biden’s Student Loan Relief Program

January 4, 2023

Federal Student Loan Payment Pause Extension a Critical Step to Protect Borrowers Pending Resolution of the Lawsuits Against Cancellation 

November 22, 2022

Advocates Cautiously Optimistic About Administration’s Plan to Improve Student Loan Bankruptcy 

November 17, 2022

New U.S. Department of Education Regulations Will Make It Easier For Borrowers Harmed By Their School To Obtain Relief

October 31, 2022

Consumer Groups Applaud Federal Legislation to Protect Workers from Excessive Wage Seizure

October 27, 2022

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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