student loan reform

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Appeals Court Grants Injunction Blocking Student Debt Plan

Courts have kept Biden's forgiveness plan from getting started

(Newser) - A federal appeals court granted a preliminary injunction Monday pausing President Biden's program to wipe clean billions of dollars in student debt, the AP reports. Six states challenging the plan had asked the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis for an injunction while issues around the case...

Big Help Coming for Millions of Student Loan Borrowers

Retroactive help is on the way from the federal government

(Newser) - After years of lawsuits and pressure from lawmakers, activists, and others, the US Department of Education will offer retroactive assistance to millions of borrowers who utilized income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Among those raising awareness of the issue was NPR , which this month released an investigation revealing how the plans, which...

Obama, Make These 5 Tweaks to SOTU

Ian Bassin lists 5 'bold' moves president could make at State of the Union

(Newser) - President Obama will announce a number of executive actions at tonight's State of the Union Address—but though the writing and planning of the speech likely started months ago, there are probably a number of aides considering last-minute additions even now. Ian Bassin should know: He used to be...

Senate's Student Loan Plan Cuts Rates—for Now

Undergrads would be able to borrow at 3.85% interest this fall

(Newser) - A Senate deal is set to lower interest rates on student loans for the next two academic years—but rates could climb after 2015, the AP reports after speaking to aides. Still, in the deal—set for a vote as soon as today—Democrats ensured that undergraduates would never face...

Senate to Let Student Loan Rates Double

No deal looks likely before looming July 1 deadline

(Newser) - A compromise to keep student loan interest rates low proved unwinnable before Monday's deadline and interest rates on new loans are going to double — at least for a while — senators said today. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate education panel, said none of the proposals being...

Dad Struggles With Dead Son's Student Loans
Dad Struggles With
Dead Son's Student Loans
propublica
Jun 14, 2012 8:00 PM CDT

Dad Struggles With Dead Son's Student Loans

ProPublica story shows just how complicated the system is

(Newser) - It's no big revelation that student loans are getting out of control , but ProPublica weighs in today with a good example of how insanely difficult it can be to navigate the system. Freddy Reynoso graduated from the Berklee College of Music with six-figure debt but was killed in a...

Debt Collector on Student Loans Made $454K in a Year

With more people defaulting, business is brisk

(Newser) - The growing number of ex-students overwhelmed with student-loan debt might want to consider an apropos career switch—to become a collector of overdue student loans. Sadly, it's no joke. As Bloomberg explains, one such collector made $454,000 in a single year, most of it in bonuses for getting...

Obama Slow-Jams the News on Fallon

President makes a play for young voters

(Newser) - As Mitt Romney celebrated his five-state sweep, President Obama was on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon making a play for young voters. The president took part in one of Fallon's signature bits, "slow-jamming" the news as house band The Roots laid down a groove, Entertainment Weekly reports. "...

Student Loan Debt Passes $1T
 Student Loan Debt Passes $1T 
Mar 22, 2012 8:26 AM CDT

Student Loan Debt Passes $1T

Figure much higher than expected

(Newser) - America's student loan debt is a lot higher than previously believed, a fact that may create a drag on the economy for years to come, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Total debt passed $1 trillion late last quarter, officials told a banking conference...

Ron Paul: Let's Kill Federal Student Loans

Says government's driving up college tuition, needs to get out of lending business

(Newser) - Republican presidential contender Ron Paul said today he wants to end federal student loans, calling it a failed program that has put students $1 trillion in debt when there are no jobs and when the quality of education has deteriorated. Paul unveiled a plan last week to cut $1 trillion...

Student Loan Debt to Hit $1T This Year

...that's more than Americans owe on their credit cards

(Newser) - America’s total outstanding student loan debt will cross the $1 trillion threshold for the first time this year, putting those loans ahead of credit cards as the country’s biggest source of debt, USA Today reports, citing figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Student lending has...

Obama Is Riding High
 Obama Is Riding High 
Analysis
Mar 30, 2010 3:00 PM CDT

Obama Is Riding High

The president's got his groove back

(Newser) - When Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of the federal student loan program today along with the finalized health care bill, the mood was decidedly celebratory. As Obama touted his “two major victories in one week,” supporters chanted “fired up!” and “Yes we can!”...

Obama Signs Health Reform Law (Yes, Again)

Final version of legislation enacted along with student loan overhaul

(Newser) - Finalizing two major pieces of his agenda, a beaming President Obama today signed legislation sealing his health care overhaul and making the government the primary lender to students by cutting banks out of the process. Both domestic priorities came in one bill, pushed through by Democrats in the House and...

House Passes Huge Student Loan Overhaul

Move cuts out private lenders, saves the government $61B

(Newser) - The House passed a sweeping overhaul of the federal student loan program today, slipping it into its final amendments to the health care bill. The measure would call for the government to lend directly to students, rather than paying private lenders to lend out the money. By effectively cutting out...

Senate Could Kill Obama's Student Loan Fix

Private lenders have friends in the upper chamber of Congress

(Newser) - House Democrats are trying to find a way to pass Barack Obama’s student loan reform plan, but they may be powerless in the face of the Senate's intent to kill it. Because the Senate is full of private lending allies willing to filibuster the bill, Democrats had hoped to...

White House Slams Student Loan Lobby

Sallie Mae spends $4M to kill bill sending more money to students

(Newser) - Education Secretary Arne Duncan tore the nation’s largest student lender a new one today over its efforts to kill the student loan reform bill. “Sallie Mae executives have paid themselves hundreds of millions of dollars in the last decade while teachers, nurses, and scientists face crushing debt because...

Student Loan Bill a No-Brainer That Actually Might Pass

But issue of rising tuition remains

(Newser) - For health reform watchers despairing that lawmakers "will never be able to do anything, ever," it's time to turn an eye on the no-brainer student loan reform in the House, Gail Collins writes in the New York Times. Right now, the government gives banks money, pays them to...

Dem Lawmakers Cry Foul on Obama Budget Cuts

President's targets for cuts have eager defenders in Congress

(Newser) - To make an omelet, you’ve got to break some eggs. But some of the eggs President Obama broke in the list of budget cuts unveiled yesterday were golden eggs for lawmakers, and even members of his own party wasted no time in protesting, the Washington Post reports. Dems who...

Fight Looms Over Plan to Give Loan Funds to Students

The administration wants to cut out private lenders, setting up a showdown

(Newser) - President Obama's plans to end a subsidized student-loan program—diverting billions of dollars in profits for private lenders like Sallie Mae to scholarships for needy students—is prompting howls of protest from lenders and setting up a Congressional showdown, the New York Times reports. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that...

Private Student Loan Providers Draw Fire

Student groups oppose use of bailout funds for unregulated lenders

(Newser) - Private student lenders deserve no part of the Treasury’s $200 billion consumer lending program, student advocacy groups say. They charge that the largely unregulated industry preys on young borrowers with risky variable-interest loans, the Washington Post reports. “A bailout for the providers of usurious private student loans will...

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