Student Loans

Student loans create debt burdens that impact families for generations. Black Americans in general, and Black and Latina women in particular -- often are forced to take on more college debt than their white counterparts in pursuit of the American Dream. The student debt burden is felt most acutely by attendees of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. CRL successfully led a coalition of advocates that achieved substantial student debt cancellation in 2022. We continue to advocate for higher education policies to protect student loan borrowers and their parents from falling into a cycle of debt that keeps them from engaging in wealth-building activities. 

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Income-Share Agreements Burden Students with Unfair Terms and Unforeseen Costs

Income-Share Agreements Burden Students with Unfair Terms and Unforeseen Costs

“Income-share agreements,” or ISAs, fund a portion of educational costs in exchange for a percentage of a student’s earnings over time. Many ISA providers continue to argue that their products are not loans even though they lend money and subsequently require repayment, employing an old and predatory tactic that loan providers use to evade consumer protection guardrails. In fact, ISAs...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

One Door Closes & Others Remain: Institutional Loans and the 90/10 Formula

One Door Closes & Others Remain: Institutional Loans and the 90/10 Formula

The “90/10 Rule” is meant to ensure that for-profit schools are, in fact, competitive in the marketplace and are not relying only on taxpayers to survive. In other words, the rule is based on the principle that a viable educational program should be funded in part by students or employers who are willing to pay cash to invest in career...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

Millions of Student Loan Borrowers Need Overdue Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Reforms

Millions of Student Loan Borrowers Need Overdue Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Reforms

Download the letter to Secretary Miguel Cardona from 104 organizations representing students, student loan borrowers, teachers, workers, civil rights, veterans, people of faith, and consumers urging him to deliver on the promise of income-driven repayment (IDR) programs for federal student loan borrowers through the creation of an IDR restoration project, or an IDR waiver.
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Letters to Congress
Student Loans

Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment: An IDR Waiver Program Proposal

Restoring the Promise of Income-Driven Repayment: An IDR Waiver Program Proposal

Many of the problems that led to the failure of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program are IDR problems in disguise—such as borrowers being steered into the wrong repayment plan and Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) servicers failing to tell borrowers of consolidation options. These problems will not be corrected by a solution that only addresses the PSLF program.
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

Organizations write to CFPB on Underregulated Fintech Consumer Credit Products

Organizations write to CFPB on Underregulated Fintech Consumer Credit Products

Letter to the CFPB from 79 consumer, housing, civil rights, legal services, faith, community, small business, and financial organizations groups regarding supervision and enforcement of fintech products and fee models that threaten to evade credit, consumer protection, and fair lending laws.
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Letters to Congress
Overdraft Fees Student Loans Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

Advocates Outline a Path Forward for California to Rein in Shadow Student Debt

Advocates Outline a Path Forward for California to Rein in Shadow Student Debt

In a letter to California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), the Student Borrower Protection Center, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of California, Consumer Reports, the Student Debt Crisis Center, the National Consumer Law Center, NextGen Policy, and Young Invincibles commented on proposed rules for education financing products in California. The letter notes that the DFPI’s...
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Comment Letter
Student Loans

The State of For-Profit Colleges

The State of For-Profit Colleges

For-profit colleges are big businesses, primarily funded by taxpayers. Many deliver poor instructional quality at high cost, causing a high proportion of students to drop out. Even for those students who do graduate, gainful employment in the field that they trained for is frequently elusive. Both non-completers and graduates bear high burdens of debt relative to their post college earnings...
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Research
Student Loans

National Survey Finds Strong Support Among Black Borrowers for Cancellation, Increasing Pell Grant Amount, More Funding for HBCUs, and More

National Survey Finds Strong Support Among Black Borrowers for Cancellation, Increasing Pell Grant Amount, More Funding for HBCUs, and More

The $1.7 trillion student debt crisis impacts over 44 million families nationwide, and the burden of student loans falls particularly heavily on Black students because of historical and ongoing systemic racism. While Black families themselves typically have less wealth to draw upon to pay for college due to the racial wealth gap, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have also...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

National Survey Shows Strong Support for Student Loan Cancellation Among Black Students

National Survey Shows Strong Support for Student Loan Cancellation Among Black Students

The $1.7 trillion student debt crisis impacts over 44 million families nationwide, and the burden of student loans falls particularly heavily on Black students because of historical and ongoing systemic racism. While Black families themselves typically have less wealth to draw upon to pay for college due to the racial wealth gap, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have also...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

HBCUs Provide Unique and Positive Learning Environment for Black Student Loan Borrowers

HBCUs Provide Unique and Positive Learning Environment for Black Student Loan Borrowers

As Adam Harris writes in his 2021 book, The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal—And How to Set Them Right: “America’s colleges and universities have a dirty open secret: they have never given Black people an equal chance to succeed.” Despite long-standing systemic challenges and the small average size of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans
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