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Student rights and protections mirror those contained in Durbin’s Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the White House unveiled a set of student loan servicing principles that contains basic rights and protections for federal student borrowers when dealing with loan servicers. Today’s announcement makes common sense improvements to ensure that military borrowers are afforded by the servicer all of the special legal benefits and protections they are entitled to under the law and that all borrowers are able to direct payments in ways most beneficial to the themselves, receive timely error and dispute resolution, are told of alternative repayment options when unable to make their full monthly payments.
“Student loan debt in American continues to climb at an alarming rate. Currently, 43 million Americans hold an astronomical $1.3 trillion in student loan debt. This cannot be sustained,” said Durbin. “The rights and protections for student borrowers contained in today’s announcement will help borrowers navigate the much too complicated process of repaying their student loans. I encourage the Department of Education to codify these principles, along with other rights and protections for students, through its ongoing student loan servicer contract re-compete process.”
Durbin has long advocated for increased protections for student borrowers and he has worked to build broad support in the Senate for legislative action to reduce new student loan debt and make it easier for millions of working families to manage the student loan debt they already have. Last year, he introduced the Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights (S. 840) with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI) to ensure struggling student borrowers are treated fairly by their student loan servicers and understand the full range of repayment options and resources available to them.
