Jennifer Weil

Medical debtors’ student loans the subject of new Senate bill

Another bill has been introduced that would allow student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy under certain circumstances.  Debtors who were driven into bankruptcy by medical debt or lost income due to the medical problems of a relative would be eligible for student loan debt forgiveness under a new bill that has very little …

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Private student loan discharge in bankruptcy proposed in new bill

Senator Tom Harkin has proposed a bill to make private student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy and to automatically enroll people who owe student loans in income-based repayment.  Harkin’s bill, called the Higher Education Affordability Act, contains many other proposals that are less helpful to people who owe student loans now or who will in the future.  As …

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States should oversee for-profit schools, says NCLC

The National Consumer Law Center just released a report proposing recommendations for state governments to increase oversight of for-profit schools. For-profit schools have been a problem for student-loan borrowers because tuition tends to be fairly high while graduation rates are low and post-graduation employment rates also are low.  As a result, NCLC, a consumer advocate …

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Student loan debtors less likely to buy property, says the NY Times

On the front page of Saturday’s Real Estate section, The New York Times has done a decent job of tying together the student loan crisis and debtors’ resulting lack of participation in the larger economy, although I think they could have picked some better examples. Admirably, the article includes a quote from one student loan …

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Report: Black recent college grads more likely to be un- or under-employed

In May 2014, the Center for Economic Policy and Research published a report entitled “A College Degree is No Guarantee,” which focuses on the experience of black college graduates in the labor market. Here’s a breakdown of the executive summary:  In 2013, the unemployment rate for black college grads between the ages of 22 and …

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