CNBC: Key events on the path to student loan forgiveness, from Occupy Wall Street to the 2020 presidential primaries
Nassirian at Veterans Education Success agreed that the problems in the higher education system, namely price escalation and diminishing quality, span way beyond the for-profit sector. “Packaging people with debt that schools knew or should [...]
Statement by Carrie Wofford on Important Dept. Ed Bulletin And Release of New Veterans Education Success Report on Unwanted Student Loans
For Immediate Release: March 16, 2022 Contact: Carrie Wofford, President of Veterans Education Success Carrie@vetsedsuccess.org (202) 422-6338 Statement by Carrie Wofford on Important Dept. Ed Bulletin And Release of New Veterans Education Success Report on [...]
CBS8 (San Diego) Interview with Our Legal Affairs Director, Jennifer Esparza
I was using tuition assistance at the time, and I thought this isn't even worth that money that was going to them [Ashford University]. I didn't want to spend the time doing it anymore because [...]
Our Reaction to the Court Ruling Ordering Ashford U To Pay $22.37 Million Fine To Defrauded Students and Vets
Media Advisory & Backgrounder: Higher Ed & Veterans Story Contact: Carrie Wofford, President, carrie@vetsedsuccess.org Organization that Brought Whistleblowers and Defrauded Veterans to Fraud Case, Veterans Education Success, Applauds Court Ruling For-Profit, Ashford University, Committed Extensive [...]
Veterans with Student Loans They Never Authorized or Wanted
Following publication of our report, the U.S. Department of Education reached out to request a meeting to discuss our findings. Soon thereafter, the Department sent a warning letter to all colleges and universities nationwide, available [...]
Our Student Advice Column in Military.com: What Vets and Service Members Need to Know About Public Student Loan Forgiveness
By Jennifer Esparza The following blog was published by Military.com. Service members and veterans may be able to get their school debt forgiven because of temporary changes to a program designed to forgive student loans [...]
Statement from Barmak Nassirian on President Biden’s Executive Order on PSLF and Student Loans
Statement from Barmak Nassirian Vice President for Higher Education Policy, Veterans Education Success on President Biden’s Executive Order Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government December 13, 2021 "We appreciate [...]
Lee Daily: Student Loan Forgiveness Education Department Erased $2 Billion in Debt for 30,000 Borrowers
The former director of military and consumer protection at Veterans Education Success, Mike Saunders said “As the burden of student loan debt has impacted ever-larger swathes of American society, the U.S. military has seen more [...]
Our Blog in Military.com: What to Do About Your GI Bill or Veterans Education Benefits If Your School Closes
By William Hubbard The following blog was published by Military.com. If you're a veteran and you just found out your school (or program) is closing, or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has disapproved [...]
Diverse Issues in Higher Education: Student Loan Reforms Stand on Horizon
“Every one of the issues on the table is critically important and quite consequential for specific segments of the borrower population,” said Barmak Nassirian, vice president for higher education policy at Veterans Education Success, a [...]
News Nation USA: Student Loan Reforms Stand on Horizon in Negotiated Rulemaking
“Every one of the issues on the table is critically important and quite consequential for specific segments of the borrower population,” said Barmak Nassirian, vice president for higher education policy at Veterans Education Success, a [...]
CNBC: Big Changes are Coming to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
Instead, hundreds of thousands of people in public service jobs believe that they’re paying their way to loan cancellation only to discover at some point in the process that they don’t qualify for one technical [...]
NPR: Troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Will Get Overhaul
A troubled student debt relief program for teachers, police officers and other public service workers will soon get the makeover that borrowers have been demanding. Next week, according to a source familiar with the plans [...]
Our Letter to the U.S. Department of Education Requesting Information Regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
September 24, 2021 U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC 20202 Submitted via electronic portal Re: Request for Information Regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, Docket ID: ED-2021-OUS-0082 To Whom It [...]
Our Public Comment Seeking Changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Proposed Rule on Reporting Debts to Credit Reporting Agencies
September 21, 2021 Submitted via electronic portal Jason Hoge Director of Operations Debt Management Center Office of Management, 189 1 Federal Drive Suite 4500 Fort Snelling, MN 55111 Re: RIN 2900-AR20-Threshold for Reporting VA Debts [...]
NBC News: Public Colleges in 49 States Send Students’ Debts to Collection Agencies, Imperiling Financial Futures
"Brendan Mullican, a former student at Sam Houston State, served in the Navy for four years, including in the Middle East during the 2003 Iraq War. Mullican, the first in his family to go to [...]
Our Letter to DoD & ED Asking Them to Improve PSLF
May 7, 2021 The Honorable Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC 20202 Secretary Lloyd Austin US Department of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000 [...]
Yahoo Finance: Student loan forgiveness: New bill aims to help active-duty military service members
The fact that only 124 active duty service members had their loans discharged via PSLF "is a major warning sign," Mike Saunders, director of military and consumer policy at Veterans Education Success told Yahoo Finance. [...]
Massachusetts AG Settles with PHEAA Following Allegations of Unfair and Deceptive Practices
February 10, 2021 AG HEALEY SECURES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND RELIEF IN SETTLEMENT WITH MAJOR STUDENT LOAN SERVICER Resolves Claims that PHEAA Made Errors and Misrepresentations in Administering Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program; More than 200,000 Massachusetts Borrowers [...]
Maryland Wins $2.6 Million in Loan Forgiveness for Brightwood College Students
November 16, 2020 - The Maryland Attorney General reached a settlement with Brightwood College to provide loan relief to Maryland students. Any loans owed directly to the school by Maryland students will be cancelled and, [...]
Our Remarks at Veterans Day Press Conference with California Attorney General Becerra
November 11, 2020 Press Conference with Attorney General Becerra Remarks of Carrie Wofford, President, Veterans Education Success Good day. We are pleased to join you today. Thank you, Attorney General Becerra. We are grateful [...]
Veterans’ Use of Private Student Loans: A Primer
Click here to download a PDF copy of the report. Highlights Based on our analysis of ED survey data from academic year 2007-08 to 2015-16: The proportion of undergraduate student veterans at for-profit schools taking [...]
Advocates and Veterans Groups Urge Financial Institutions to Follow Military Consumer Protection Law During Covid-19 Mobilizations
On Friday, May 1 the Student Borrower Protection Center, Student Veterans of America, Veterans Education Success, and over a dozen national military and veteran service organizations sent letters to the nation’s major financial institutions urging [...]
21 Military & Veteran Organizations’ Letter to CFPB on Debt Collection
Veterans Education Success organized and led a letter from 21 national military and veteran service organizations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding its proposed changes to debt collection rules.
Press Release: DeVos’s Final Rewrite of the Borrower Defense Rule Is a Slap in the Face for Military-Connected Students
September 3, 2019 For Immediate Release Contact: Walter Ochinko | VES Research Director | (202) 838-5050 DeVos’s Final Rewrite of the Borrower Defense Rule Is a Slap in the Face for Military-Connected Students Washington, D.C. [...]
Here are Some Surprising Ways Troops and Vets Can Cut Their Student Loan Debt
Note: This advice column was originally published by Military Times on February 19, 2019 and can be found here. By Mike Saunders, Director of Military & Consumer Policy | VES Hundreds of thousands of veterans, [...]
Veteran Student Loan Debt 7 Years After Implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill
In May 2018, we reported on trends in veteran student loan debt from just before the 2009 implementation of the more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill (2007-08) to 3 years after the new benefit became available [...]
American Heroes Network: Veterans Education Success’ Mike Saunders explains severely disabled veterans’ right to student loan forgiveness
As the Director of Military and Consumer Policy, Mike leads Veteran Education Success’ consumer protection policy work, including servicemembers’ protections under the Military Lending Act and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Mike joined VES as Legal [...]
Military Times Rebootcamp: Could This Government Program Wipe Away All Your Student Loan Debt?
Until recently, if you were 100 percent disabled or had a finding by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of Individual Unemployability (IU) you could get your student loans forgiven, but with one expensive caveat: [...]
UPI: Lack of info, fear causing thousands of U.S. vets to default on student loans
Earlier this year, tens of thousands of disabled U.S. veterans became eligible to have their student loans entirely forgiven -- but more than half are in default, new figures show. In April, the Education Department [...]
Politico: New Data on Veterans Eligible for Student Loan Discharges
More than half of the veterans with disabilities whom the Education Department has identified as eligible to have their student loans canceled are already in default on their debt, according to new federal data.
AP: How military service impacts student loan repayment options
Veterans tend to be older than traditional undergraduates and are likelier to be employed while in school, says Kathy Payea, senior research fellow with Veterans Education Success. They also may be supporting families.
Veterans Organizations Call for Automatic Loan Forgiveness for Disabled Veterans
A letter to the Department of Education requesting automatic loan forgiveness for disabled veterans.
Press Release: Veterans Organizations Oppose DeVos’ Proposed Borrower Defense Rule
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 31, 2018 CONTACT: Walter Ochinko, (202) 838-5050 VES Research Director and Borrower Defense negotiator representing military and veteran students on both the 2016 and 2018 negotiated rulemaking panels Twenty-Seven Veteran [...]
Military Times: Vets Could Be Hurt by Proposed $13 Billion Cut to Student Loan Relief
Veterans and other students defrauded by their schools would have a harder time getting their federal loans erased under new rules proposed by the Trump administration Wednesday. The proposal, which aims to replace a set [...]
The Hill: A Call To Service Without Debt
As a country, we have encouraged our children to strive for bright futures. We prod them to go to college, pursue apprenticeship programs, and otherwise climb the ladder of opportunity by seeking educational opportunities beyond [...]
Bloomberg: Student Debt Surprise: How Veterans Get Loans Without Knowing It
Jonathan Ngowaki was halfway through getting his undergraduate degree at DeVry University when he got a letter saying he was $15,000 in debt. The letter confused him not only because he’d told the school [...]
Veteran Student Loan Debt Before and After the Post-9/11 GI Bill
A major goal of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which modernized veterans’ educational benefits, was to provide veterans with the opportunity of a debt-free, postsecondary education—or, at a minimum, to mitigate their student loan debt. The [...]
Military Times: Student Loan Forgiveness Benefit on the Chopping Block
A benefit that lets service members and other government workers write off student loan debt would vanish under a new proposal in Congress. Republican-backed legislation would eliminate a program that allows borrowers in full-time public [...]
Marketwatch: Job-Training Programs at For-Profit Colleges Actually Make Students Worse Off
Students who attend programs at for-profit colleges with hopes of training for a career appear to end up worse off than if they never moved on to higher education at all. After attending certificate programs [...]
PBS NewsHour: For-Profit College Students Twice as Likely to Default on Loans, Report Says
WASHINGTON — Students who attended for-profit colleges were twice as likely or more to default on their loans than students who attended public educational institutions, according to a federal study published Wednesday.
Bloomberg News: Betsy DeVos Tells CFPB to Back Off on Student Loans: The Agency Has Survived the Trump Administration So Far; Will the Education Department Be the One to Kneecap It?
When federal policymakers killed banks’ ability to make government-backed student loans, David Bergeron should have been celebrating. A career official at the U.S. Department of Education, he had favored the move for years; it would save [...]
The Buffalo News: Students of For-Profit Colleges Struggle the Most Repaying Loans
Students who attended for-profit institutions struggled the most to pay down the principal on their student loans. For-profit schools also produced lower shares of students who earned annual incomes of at least $25,000. Nearly 85 [...]
Forbes: How The White House Is Harming College Borrowers
For more than a generation, the GOP trope with a nod and a wink was "I'm here from Washington and I'm here to help." Yet sometimes, government policies do help Americans -- especially those with crippling college [...]
Greensboro News & Record: Opinion: Debt But No Degree
The Trump administration set out to reverse federal regulations developed by its predecessor, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is following that directive. Last month, she froze a rule that would help students get out of [...]
Associated Press: Promised College Loan Forgiveness, Borrowers Wait and Wait
BOSTON (AP) — Danielle Ramos’ student-debt nightmare was supposed to be over. Like thousands of others who studied at failed for-profit colleges, she was promised by the U.S. Education Department under President Barack Obama that [...]
USA Today: Feds Halt Alleged Student Loan Debt Relief Scam
Federal investigators have halted an alleged student loan debt relief scam that bilked more than $11 million from consumers nationwide. Strategic Student Solutions and several related companies falsely promised to reduce or eliminate student loan [...]
New York Times: A Conveyor Belt of Dropouts and Debt at For-Profit Colleges
As college attendance has risen and investment in public institutions has flagged, the United States has relied increasingly on for-profit colleges, with disastrous consequences for many students. For-profits, once a tiny corner of higher education, [...]
Military.com: Bill Would End Tax Penalty on Vets With Forgiven Student Loans
Permanently disabled veterans or survivors of veterans who have their student debt forgiven would avoid taxes on the "income" under legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Senate. By law, forgiven student debt is counted as income by [...]
The Bulletin: With GI Bill Veterans Still Accrue Student Debt
Despite the generous benefits of the latest GI Bill, military veterans attending college are taking out substantial student loans, raising concerns among veterans’ organizations that they are unnecessarily diving into debt.
Military.com: Generous GI Bill Isn’t Keeping Veterans Out of Student Loan Debt
Despite the generous benefits of the latest GI Bill, military veterans attending college are taking out substantial student loans, raising concerns among veterans' organizations that they are unnecessarily diving into debt. For most veterans, the [...]
Los Angeles Times: Generous GI Bill Isn’t Keeping Today’s Veterans Out of Student Loan Debt
Despite the generous benefits of the latest GI Bill, military veterans attending college are taking out substantial student loans, raising concerns among veterans' organizations that they are unnecessarily diving into debt. For most veterans, the [...]