New York Attorney General sues loan servicer over handling of Public Service Loan Forgiveness

October 8, 2019

MARKETWATCH — The loan servicer handling student-debt forgiveness requests is badly bungling the job and misleading borrowers who deserve a clean slate, New York’s attorney general charged in a lawsuit filed Thursday.Approximately 99% of all Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants have been rejected and FedLoan’s alleged failures are “a significant contributor to the shockingly high rate

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Advice for applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness

October 8, 2019

WAMU 88.5 — The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program was established under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. Since the first borrowers became eligible in 2017, only about 1,200 of the 100,185 applications have been approved. If you are hoping to be approved for PSLF, there are steps you can take

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Experts discuss issues with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

October 8, 2019

THE KOJO NNAMDI SHOW — The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program was supposed to erase the remaining federal loan balance after 10 years for borrowers who devoted their careers to serving others.

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Senator Alexander submits narrow bills to update Higher Education Act

October 1, 2019

INSIDE HIGHER ED — U.S. senator Lamar Alexander released a package of bills Thursday that would narrowly update the Higher Education Act, including how financial aid is awarded to low-income students. The 169-page bill fleshes out a proposal Alexander, the chairman of the Senate education committee, outlined last week when he blocked the FUTURE Act from

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U.S. Department of Education official testifies on Public Service Loan Forgiveness rejections

October 1, 2019

MARKETWATCH — The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is meant to wipe away student-loan debt for people who work in public-service jobs including law enforcement, teaching and the military. As of 2018, just 1% of borrowers who applied for the program had been accepted. The low approval rate was because of the program’s complexity — not

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A look at the Public Service Loan Forgiveness appeals process

October 1, 2019

FORBES — Public Service Loan Forgiveness, also known as PSLF, was created to help cash-strapped professionals who want to work for the public good. Unfortunately, this program has turned out to be nothing short of disastrous for those left dealing with red tape and no forgiveness in sight. It’s possible that you have met all the requirements

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Study: Connection between student debt and racial wealth gap

October 1, 2019

INSIDE HIGHER ED — The burden of student loans on young black people is a crisis that requires immediate policy action argues the report released from the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University. The report finds that 20 years after entering repayment, the median white student borrower has paid back 94 percent of their student

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Student loan default rate falls again

October 1, 2019

INSIDE HIGHER ED — Data released by the Education Department Wednesday showed that the share of borrowers defaulting on their student loans has declined for the sixth straight year. Of borrowers who entered repayment in 2016, 10.1 percent had defaulted on their loans by 2018 — down from 10.8 percent from the previous year.

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New project to develop best practices for communicating the cost of college

September 23, 2019

EDUCATION DIVE — A new project from the Hope Center aims to help colleges better communicate with students about cost while equipping them to be their own advocates.

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House Committee conducts hearing on Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program problems

September 23, 2019

POLITICO — Democrats are holding the hearing on the public service loan forgiveness program as complaints about rejections have made it to the 2020 presidential campaign trail. Nearly every Democratic contender has made expanding or fixing the program a part of their education plan.

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