“Against the backdrop of $1.2 trillion dollars in outstanding student loan debt that is currently dragging on individual borrowers and the economy more broadly, it is imperative that our federal lawmakers take steps to change banking and financial firm practices that contribute to that debt burden.” – joint letter to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
40 million Americans currently owe some $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, which is making it hard for people to buy cars, homes, and even daily necessities. In one recent survey, 29 percent of borrowers said that student loans had caused them to delay getting married…
So this is a problem that fully deserves the double-barreled attention it is getting from the Senate. And more: it deserves meaningful action from regulators and legislators alike.
“We strongly support the Department of Education’s efforts to keep federal funds from being used to support career education companies that routinely fail to deliver on their promises, leaving students with unmanageable debt. We urge you to stand by the thrust of the regulations the Department proposed in March, and to bolster those regulations in several key ways.”
Read the pdf of our comment letter to the CFPB regarding private student loans here. January 17, 2012 Ms. Monica Jackson Office of the Executive Secretary Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (Attn: 1801 L
Obama To The Rescue On Federal Student Loans, But What About Private Loans? – Eva Pereira (Forbes)
“The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) aims to make the education lending market much more transparent with its KnowBeforeYouOwe project, but for those already knee deep private debt, there is little recourse. Several distressed borrowers shared their private loan struggles on a recent call organized by the Americans for Financial Reform, a consumer rights coalition.”
AFR in the News: Private Student Loan Debts Highlight Need for Fully Operational CFPB The Institute for College Access & Success and Americans for Financial Reform hosted a conference call with reporters and bloggers on Tuesday, October 25th to discuss private student loan debt and
View the PDF Version Here January 26, 2011 The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: Thank you for your leadership to make college more affordable in order to expand opportunity and strengthen our economy.
Students and Young Adults Hit Hard by Financial Crisis New Brief Shows Young Americans Need Wall Street Reform WASHNGTON, May 13 – Young Americans face “lasting damage” from the dual crises in the financial sector and in personal finance, making it urgent that Congress pass
Students organize opposition: Group plans protest, petition against JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon The Syracuse Daily Orange reports that students have begun to organize to oppose upcoming commencement speaker Jamie Dimon. The paper states: About 30 students gathered in Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge on Wednesday
The Senate passed and the President signed into law a bill which will eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) student lending program. Instead, all government loans will use the “Direct” lending program. AFFIL applauds this change, as it will eliminate the subsidies to the