Student loans

The student loan giant fell far short of Wall Street's expectations, but its leaders say President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" is likely to bring it billions of dollars in new business.

A federal judge has ordered FDATR, a now-defunct student loan debt relief provider, to pay $43 million in restitution and fees, bucking the trend of cases brought by the Biden administration-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau being dropped.

A vast majority of borrowers have either graduated from one of MPOWER's eligible graduate degree programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) or business.

The regional bank is offloading a $1.9 billion student loan portfolio in order to focus on its relationships with existing customers, said CEO Bruce Van Saun.

Almost all the collateral was extended to borrowers attending four-year schools, and the same percentage was made to borrowers attending not-for-profit schools.

The Trump administration wants the Small Business Administration to shrink its workforce by 43%. At the same time, the agency is being asked to start managing the federal government's student loan portfolio.

Los Angeles dispute resolution platform Ejudicate was banned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for forcing borrowers into arbitration with an affiliated creditor.

Western Benefits Group initiated contracts with student loan borrowers extracting monthly fees upfront, while claiming to negotiate debt consolidation through a supposed affiliation with the Department of Education, the CFPB said.

High interest rates could dampen demand for refinancing, which took a hit during the pandemic-era pause in federal student loan payments. "Curb your enthusiasm," one analyst said.

After a Supreme Court ruling, forgiveness for education debt looks unlikely but some of those exiting forbearance for it get a year-long break on credit and fees that could be helpful.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said “time is running out” for military student loan borrowers to obtain debt relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

GradFin offers advisory services to Americans who want assistance with their student loans. The acquisition is part of the Cleveland bank’s strategy of adding niche digital businesses.

During the pandemic, consumer lenders have found it easier to collect payments because the federal student loan moratorium has made many borrowers more liquid. A plan for blanket forgiveness reportedly under consideration by President Biden could sustain that trend.

The Biden administration once again extended the pause on student loan payments enacted to help borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this time through the end of August.

President Biden’s aspirations for aggressive forgiveness haven’t been fulfilled to date, but steps taken so far have lowered a key hurdle to entry-level homeownership.

Known as MOHELA 2021-3, the trust will issue a mix of fixed- and floating-rate notes from a capital structure with three tranches, or note classes.

Income share agreements, which allow college graduates to repay tuition financing as a percentage of their future income, have come under fire lately from consumer advocates for questionable marketing and other potential legal violations. Some hope a partnership between a Virginia bank and an ISA provider will give the product more legitimacy, while others worry it just masks risks for borrowers.

Cordray, named this week to lead the Education Department's office of federal student aid, cracked down on banks, student loan servicers and for-profit colleges when he was director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The deal between San Francisco-based lender and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V is latest example of a closely held firm going public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company.

The consumer bureau said the bank’s migration to a new servicing platform led to unauthorized payment withdrawals, misrepresentations about what borrowers owed and violations of a prior 2015 enforcement action.