FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 1, 2015

Contacts: Colin Seeberger, colin.seeberger@younginvincibles.org, 214.223.2913; Sarah Schultz, sarah.schultz@younginvincibles.org, 202.654.6501

Promising Report Calls for Enhanced Borrower Protections

[WASHINGTON] — The U.S. Department of Education released a report today recommending policy changes to improve student loans for borrowers. The Department recommends a host of policies that can improve borrower outcomes, simplify systems, and direct servicers to do more to help struggling borrowers.

The report contains many policy recommendations that Young Invincibles has supported in the past, including: streamlining and simplifying income-based repayment (IBR) plans, consumer testing the Department’s online counseling tools, preserving servicemembers’ benefits, eliminating tax liability for borrowers who receive loan forgiveness through IBR plans or and preventing tax liability in successful defense to repayment claims, restoring Pell grant eligibility for borrowers who make successful borrower defense claims, supporting and modifying existing regulations that aim to prevent institutions from engaging in fraud, and strengthening borrower protections for borrowers with private loans.

Jennifer Wang, policy director of Young Invincibles, released the following statement about today’s report:

“We support the Administration’s call for reforms that prioritize borrowers’ needs and create a system that is more fair, just, and informative for millions of borrowers trying to repay their loans.

Young Invincibles will continue to push for both Congressional and Administrative policy changes left unresolved by the report, like multi-year consent for borrowers entering into IBR plans, supported today by a bipartisan group of 32 House members.”

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