Julian Castro’s Student Loan Plan

Former Obama housing Secretary, San Antonio mayor and Democratic Party presidential candidate Julian Castro has proposed a detailed plan for student loan forgiveness. It’s part of what he calls his “People First” plan for education reform. Since this is primarily a student loan blog, we’ll focus first on the aspects of his plan specific to […]

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Ends “Gainful Employment Rule”

In 2014, the Obama Administration attached some strings to federal student loan aid going to for-profit colleges and universities. This was the deal: In exchange for continued access to student loan dollars, for-profit schools had to show that students were finding gainful employment upon graduation and paying off their loans. Additionally, the new standard required […]

The Kamala Harris Student Loan Forgiveness for Entrepreneurs Plan

California Senator and Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris just proposed offering up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness to Pell Grant recipients. Yesterday I announced that, as president, I’ll establish a student loan debt forgiveness program for Pell Grant recipients who start a business that operates for three years in disadvantaged communities. https://t.co/ldwuC9RiIE — […]

Teachers Union Sues Dept. of Education Over Denied Public Service Loan Forgiveness Claims

Imagine being a schoolteacher, cop, firefighter, social worker or some other public service worker with a big student loan debt. You went into the field a decade ago knowing the pay wasn’t the greatest. But you expected you’d be able to discharge your remaining student loan debt after ten years in public service. That was […]

Kamala Harris on Student Loan Debt

Kamala Harris on Student Loan Debt By most polls, California Senator and former state attorney general Kamala Harris is currently running third in the Democratic primary. She’s behind former Vice President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. She’s ahead of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in some polls and behind in others.  We tackled Biden’s track long […]

Senator Bernie Sanders’ Student Loan Plan

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has rolled out his plan to address student loan debt, and it’s a doozy. First, Sanders proposes we cancel all $1.6 trillion of outstanding student loan debt outright – including both federal and private loans. This would directly affect about 45 million Americans. The direct savings for the average student loan […]

Student Loan Tax Elimination Act Introduced in Senate

A new bill in the Senate, the Student Loan Tax Elimination Act, would eliminate student loan origination fees on federal loans. If approved, the measure could save borrowers billions over the next five years. Supporters say that origination fees on student loans amount to a “hidden tax” on student loan borrowers. And since the Department […]

Consolidation Loan Separation Act May Provide Relief to Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse

Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act Aims to Help Divorced Joint Borrowers Get Back on Their Feet. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Shannon DeBlieck and her then-husband used a now-defunct federal program to consolidate their separate loan amounts together into a single payment. She owed $4,000, and he owed $19,000. The balance […]