Create a free Diverse: Issues In Higher Education account to continue reading

CFPB Officials Liken Student Loan Scams to Mortgage Scams

092315_scamConsumer Financial Protection Bureau student loan ombudsman Seth Frotman recently shared his concern over predatory practices in student loan repayment programs to those that led to the mortgage crisis nearly a decade ago.

In an interview with Think Progress, Frothman said “What really concerns us is that the issues and practices we see are eerily similar to what happened in the wake of the mortgage meltdown, where we saw a number of scammers doing comparatively what they’re doing now in the student loan context.”

“What we’ve seen is that many of the same practices, and many of the same entities, have sort of migrated over and have now really set their targets in the student loan space,” he added.

There has reportedly been a rise in student debt relief scams—which often prey on the most vulnerable borrowers, often Black and Hispanic families—since last June, when the Department of Education expanded loan repayment options. For-profit students (who also are largely made up of students of color) are particularly at risk, the report said.

A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics
American sport has always served as a platform for resistance and has been measured and critiqued by how it responds in critical moments of racial and social crises.
Read More
A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics