Xerox does a lot more than make huge copy machines for your office. For more than a year, the company’s student loan servicing division has been under state and federal investigation for allegations that it violated debt collection laws and overcharged borrowers. Now Xerox has agreed to pay $2.4 million to close the book on one such investigation in Massachusetts. [More]
student loans
Some Student Loan Borrowers Improperly Denied Payment Assistance
By 11.1.16
Each year, more than five million student loan borrowers are better able to manage their debts thanks in part to government-based loan repayment plans. But yet another report has found that not all students qualified to participate in these income-driven repayment plans are able to, though at no fault of their own. [More]
Student Loan Debt For Recent College Graduates Increases Again, Now At $30K
By 10.18.16
With college tuition continuing to increase, it probably won’t surprise many people to learn that college graduates are leaving school burdened with more loan debt. According to a new report, the average amount of student loan debt for new graduates has passed $30,000 for the first time. [More]
Mom Says College Stole Her ID, Forged Signature To Take Out Student Loan For Son Who Didn’t Attend School
By 9.12.16
A for-profit educator that was recently hit with a $13 million settlement for allegedly filing false claims for student aid is now accused of stealing an Alabama woman’s identity and forging her signature to take out a student loan for her son, even though he never attended that school. [More]
Loan Discharges, Transferring Credits: What ITT Tech Students Need To Know
By 9.7.16
Nearly 40,000 now-former ITT Technical Institute students are now left picking up the pieces after the for-profit college operator abruptly closed all 130 of its campuses this week. The Department of Education wants to help those students to be aware of all options — and to avoid getting pulled in by shady offers that are too good to be true.
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Now That ITT Tech Is Closed, What Options Do Students Have?
By 9.6.16
Nearly 40,000 students have been left in educational limbo following the sudden closure of all 130 ITT Tech campuses. What options are available to these stranded students who have invested their time and money in a shuttered school?
Amazon No Longer Marketing Private Student Loans To Prime Members
By 8.31.16
Just a month after Amazon announced it would partner with Wells Fargo to offer Prime members a discount on private student loans, nearly all traces of the criticized program have disappeared. [More]
Wells Fargo Must Pay $4M Over Allegedly Illegal Student Loan Servicing
By 8.22.16
For the last 10 months, it’s been one of the banking industry’s worst-kept secrets that Wells Fargo’s student loan servicing business was being investigated by federal regulators. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed these rumors and ordered Wells to pay more than $4 million in refunds and penalties over allegedly illegal loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain borrowers. [More]
NJ Student Loan Agency Tells Staff To Only Offer Help When Explicitly Asked
By 7.28.16
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that your cable company has perks or discounts it will only reveal when asked, but you’d hope a government agency wouldn’t deliberately hide a program intended to help families struggling to pay off student loan debts of a deceased loved one. [More]
Amazon & Wells Fargo Hope That A Partnership And Discounts Will Entice You Into A Private Student Loan
By 7.21.16
Pay $99/year — or $10/month — for an Amazon Prime membership and you’ll get a slew of benefits like free two-day shipping on thousands of items, free streaming Prime video access, and more. Soon, college-aged members will also be eligible for a 0.50% interest rate discount on new loans. [More]
New Guidelines Aim To Improve Customer Service, Enhance Protections On Federal Student Loans
By 7.20.16
The fact that two-thirds of college-bound students who take out loans to finance their higher education have little to no idea what they’re agreeing to, doesn’t mean these borrowers shouldn’t receive adequate protection from unscrupulous loan servicing companies. New guidelines from a pair of federal agencies are aimed at ensuring student loan borrowers get the service and protection they deserve. [More]
Former Corinthian College Students Sue To Have Private Loans Discharged
By 7.14.16
As the Department of Education is working to wipe away millions of dollars in federal loans owed by former students of now-defunct Corinthian College Inc. schools, some former students continue to receive monthly bills for private loans they took out in order to attend the for-profit colleges. Now one former Corinthian student has filed a federal class action against the financial firms that currently hold the private student loans. [More]
College-Bound Students Are Unprepared For Financial Burden Of Loans. What Needs To Change?
By 6.30.16
Despite efforts by the Department of Education to educate prospective college students about the burden of student loans, nearly two-thirds of students who took out loans to pay for college say they had no idea what they were signing up for. To fix this problem, it’s going to take more than making these students sit in a class about financial aid and student loans; it may require an overhaul of the entire college financing system. [More]
Know Before You Owe Mountains Of Student Loan Debt
By 6.29.16
Each year millions of students take out thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans and other financial aid to help pay for a college education. But as we found out yesterday, many of these prospective students are woefully unprepared for the reality of student loan debt. From reading through piles of paperwork to making payments each month and keeping track of loan servicers, financing your education can be overwhelming, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn as much as possible before you end up under a mountain of loan debt. [More]
Banks Trying To Attract Customers With Products To Reduce, Repay Student Loans
By 6.22.16
With student loan debt in the U.S. now well beyond $1 trillion, everyone seems eager to get into the debt-reduction business. Some cities will pay down your debt if you move there, while a growing number of employers are making loan payment contributions part of the benefits package. Now some financial institutions are dangling the debt-reduction carrot in front of potential customers — but should you bite? [More]
20,000 For-Profit College Students Ask Education Dept. To Cancel Their Student Loans
By 5.27.16
As the fallout continues from the collapse of Corinthian Colleges Inc. — former operator of Everest University, WyoTech, and Heald College — the Department of Education is trying to sort through nearly 20,000 loan-forgiveness requests from former students who claim that CCI and other for-profit colleges misled them into taking out huge student loans. [More]
Screwed Over By A For-Profit College? You Probably Signed Away Your Right To Sue
By 4.29.16
When Corinthian Colleges Inc. collapsed, leaving thousands of students in the lurch with student loan debt and credits that they didn’t know would be usable at other schools, they were generally unable to sue the failed for-profit educator because the students had unwittingly signed away their right to a jury trial or class action. CCI wasn’t the only for-profit operator with this anti-consumer practice, and a new report tries to get a grasp on the scope of the problem. [More]
Feds Will Notify Disabled Borrowers Eligible For Student Loan Discharge
By 4.13.16
Under the law, borrowers who are permanently disabled are eligible to have their federal student loans discharged. While the government has taken steps in the past to make the process more streamlined for consumers, the Department of Education will now proactively seek out eligible borrowers. [More]
