CFPB Does it Again! New Toolkit Aims to Help Educate Borrowers on PSLF Options.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), our new BFF, launched a toolkit yesterday to empower school districts and other public service organizations to help their employees pay off student loan debt. The CFPB is asking these employers to make a pledge to inform their employees of their options. According to a report released yesterday, the CFPB estimates that more than 25 percent of the U.S. labor force is in public service. This includes teachers, librarians, firefighters, military personnel, law enforcement, first responders, nurses,…
Congress to Take Up Bill That Loosens Fraud, Waste, & Abuse Restrictions on Colleges
As many of you may already know, members of Congress are currently enjoying a summer recess. In case you've been longing for the daily accusations of partisan rhetoric flowing freely from both sides, never fear for they return to work September 9, 2013! One proposed bill awaiting discussion in the House of Representatives is particularly offensive to borrowers and their families and should certainly not pass unnoticed. The bill, H.R. 2637, introduced by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and entitled "Supporting Academic Freedom…
President Obama Hits the Road to Discuss College Costs
Attention New Yorkers and citizens of the great state of Pennsylvania: The Obama Express is coming to a college town near you later this week! Thanks to an article today by NPR's Frank James, we now know that President Obama will hit the road this Thursday and Friday to visit college campuses in Buffalo, Syracuse and Binghamton, NY as well as Scranton, Pennsylvania. According to Josh Earnest, Deputy White House Press Secretary, the president is expected to discuss his views on the pressing need to rein in college tuition and fees.…
3 Documents Everyone in Government and Nonprofit Services Needs Right Now
As anyone who has ever resisted the warm glow of the "hot, fresh, now" sign on a Krispy Kreme donut shop can attest, freshness counts! To that end, the Department of Education has recently updated its Employment Certification Form for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and we want you to have the "freshest" forms available. With this form, folks in government and 501(c)(3) nonprofit service* can get that warm and fuzzy feeling that will come from the government saying “yes, your employment qualifies" and “yes, you made x number…
President Obama signs student loan interest bill
President Obama signed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act amending the Higher Education Act to change the interest rates on all new subsidized, unsubsidized, GradPLUS, and Parent PLUS loans. The law lowers interest rates for the short term, but over time will subject students and parents to higher interest rates on their student loans. The interest rate for subsidized loans and unsubsidized loans to undergraduate students will be the 10-year Treasury rate plus 2.05 percentage points (currently 3.86 percent), capped at 8.25 percent. …
