As part of ordering my finances, I have spent the past few months digging into my student loan default from 2004; it has been much more difficult to get answers than I expected. The loan went from sallie mae to USA Funds to Pioneer Credit Recovery—a Sallie Mae subsidiary—for collections. I’ve tracked the legal justification for the (exorbitant) collections fee back to a formula for commission rates to PCAs in 34 CFR 30.60.

Is there any way to find out the Department of Education commission rate for PCAs for the period of my default so I can calculate whether I was charged fairly? Is there any public record of how ED determines these rates, or will that require a FOIA request?

Thanks for any guidance.

I’m not sure.  If you haven’t already, check out the Department of Ed’s 2009 PCA Procedures manual here: http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/blogs/wp-content/www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/uploads/2007/03/2009-pca-procedures.pdf

BTW, ED took the manual off its website.