cfpb

To be frank, no, we don’t. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has jurisdiction over financial products and services. That means we look at lending, servicing, debt collection, credit reporting, and things like that. Of course, the cost of college impacts lending, but other policymakers are focused on those questions. Right now, one of my biggest concerns is about borrowers dealing with big monthly student loan payments today, since many of them feel it’s a roadblock to future opportunity. If student loan borrowers aren’t able to buy homes and cars, start businesses, and save for retirement, that could spell trouble for all of us.

The CFPB published a report to Congress on private student loans and we looked at the data on the changes to the bankruptcy law in 2005. You’d actually expect that the unusual bankruptcy treatment would make prices go down, but the data we looked at didn’t show that. We recommended that Congress take another look at this and see if the current system makes sense.
On federal loans, there’s the Income-Based Repayment option, check this out: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/633/what-income-based-repayment-ibr.html. This doesn’t require any court filings or fees, but it can give you an affordable payment plan.

Hey Katie -- have you checked out Public Service Loan Forgiveness?. It could possibly help with the situation you're describing.

I hear you. There’s so much focus on how to prevent problems for the next generation of borrowers, but for people struggling with loans today, it feels like the wrong conversation to have. This past week, we put out a report to policymakers that talks about the need for refinance options so people can take advantage of today’s historically low interest rates.

It sounds like you might have taken out a private consolidation loan that isn’t eligible for income-based repayment and other flexible repayment options, like on federal student loans. We’re working on finding ways to make sure private student loans can be more affordable. So many people have a tough time renegotiating payments with private lenders and servicers. I think banks, consumers, and the economy more broadly might be better off if people had affordable payment options.

Yes, college is worth it. College graduates earn more and have much lower unemployment rates than those without. But borrowing big can have consequences. I think all of the talk about big student debt burdens is gonna make more students think about whether their college is giving them a good deal.