Private Student Loan Publications and Resources

Private student loans are one of the riskiest ways to pay for college. They have much more in common with credit cards than they do with federal student loans. Private loans typically have variable interest rates that are higher for those who can least afford them – as high as 18% in 2008 – and they lack the important consumer protections and repayment options of federal loans.

The Project on Student Debt is working to improve consumer protections for private loan borrowers and ensure that students and families have the information they need to make safe and smart borrowing decisions.

Big Wins for Students in Final Financial Reform Bill
June 25, 2010 - Statement of Pauline Abernathy on the final financial reform bill that will be voted on by the House and Senate. This bill will improve consumer protections for private student loans. 

Coalition Letter to Senate on CFPB and Private Loans
May 3, 2010 - More than 40 organizations signed this letter urging the Senate to strengthen consumer protections for private student loans through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the financial reform

Sallie Mae’s Private Loans Exempt from Financial Reform Bill?
May 3, 2010 - Press release about the Senate's version of the financial reform bill, and implications for private student loans.

Borrowers with Private Student Loans Could Get Bankruptcy Relief
April 22, 2010 - Statement of Lauren Asher on legislation and House Judiciary hearing to address fair treatment of private student loans in bankruptcy. 

Coalition Letter in Support of Bankruptcy Fairness
April 21, 2010 - Letter from a broad coalition of groups representing students, consumers, and institutions of higher education, and civil rights and public policy organizations supporting legislation to treat private loans like other consumer debt in bankruptcy.

Statement on House Passage of CFPA
December 11, 2009 - Statement of Lauren Asher on House passage of a bill to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would have oversight over all private student loans and help protect consumers from these and other risky financial products.

Coalition Letter Supporting Mandatory Certification of Private Loans in CFPA
December 10, 2009 - Twenty-five organizations wrote a letter to Reps. Polis, Murphy, and Bishop in support of their amendment to require school certification of private student loans, as part of H.R. 4173

Coalition Letter to Senate about Consumer Financial Protection Agency
December 2, 2009 - Twenty-nine organizations signed this letter to Sens. Dodd and Shelby of the Senate Banking Committee, thanking Sen. Dodd for making sure that all private student loans, including those made by colleges, fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Coalition Letter about Consumer Financial Protection Agency
October 8, 2009 - Thirty-two organizations signed this letter to Rep. Barney Frank, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, urging that all private student loans -- including those made by colleges -- fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Official Comment on Self-Certification Form
November 25, 2009 - The self-certification form must be filled out by students applying for a private student loan, starting in February 2010. Our official public comments suggest ways to make sure students know about cheaper, safer federal aid options and seek counsel from the financial aid office before taking out a private student loan. See the form wtih our suggested edits

Testimony of Lauren Asher before House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
September 23, 2009 - Lauren Asher was an invited witness at the hearing, "An Undue Hardship? Discharging Educational Debt in Bankruptcy." Her testimony focuses on why private student loans should be treated the same as other consumer debt in bankruptcy.

Coalition Letter in Favor of Discharging Private Student Loans in Bankruptcy
September 23, 2009 - Eighteen organizations signed on in a letter to Congress urging them to make private student loans dischargeable through bankruptcy.

Borrowers with Private Student Loans Blocked from Bankruptcy Relief
September 21, 2009 - Media alert in advance of congressional hearing on student loans and bankruptcy.

Private Loans: Facts and Trends
August 25, 2009 - Our analysis of federal data from 2007-08 reveals that two-thirds of private loan borrowers did not take out all they could in safer, more affordable federal loans. The fact sheet also found that a majority of private loan borrowers in 2008 attended schools with tuition and fees of $10,000 or less, and that African-American students were the most likely to take out private student loans.

Summary of New Disclosures for Private Student Loans
August 25, 2009 - We were disappointed that the Federal Reserve Board did not adopt most of our suggestions in their regulations for new private loan disclosures mandated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. This summary breaks down our suggestions and how they fared.

As Student Debt Rises, More Undergraduates Go Straight to Most Dangerous Loans
August 25, 2009 - This release outlines the findings of Private Loans: Facts and Trends, and relates them to the Federal Reserve Board's final regulations on private loan disclosures.

Comments to Federal Reserve Board on Private Student Loan Disclosures
May 26, 2009 - The Institute for College Access & Success and 10 other national consumer groups submitted public comments about the proposed rules for new private loan disclosures.

New Data Show Big Increases in Private Student Loan Borrowing
April 21, 2009 - New analysis reveals alarming increases in private loan borrowing: the share of all undergraduate students who borrowed private student loans jumped from 5% in 2003-04 to 14% in 2007-08.

Group Letter to Secretary Geithner on the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility
February 9, 2009 - Nineteen organizations urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to make the receipt of TALF funds for private student loan financing conditional upon adequate consumer protections and better data reporting. We sent a similar letter to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on November 19, 2009.

Policy Agenda to Address Rising Student Debt
January 2009 - Our 2009 policy priorities include treating private student loans like other consumer debt in bankruptcy, requiring that schools certify private loans before lenders disburse funds, and improving reporting and data collection about private loans.

Letter in Support of Consumer Protections in Private Loan Bailout
January 26, 2009 - This group letter calls on Reps. Barney Frank and George Miller, who respectively chair the House Financial Services and Education commitees, to push for necessary borrower protections should bailout funds be given to private loan lenders.

Testimony of Lauren Asher before U.S. Department of Education on HEOA Regulations
October 2, 2008 - Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, testified about a range of issues in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, including private student loan disclosures, financial aid award letters, proprietary schools, and cohort default rates.

Denied
April 17, 2008 - At least one million community college students lack access to federal loans, not because of the credit crunch, but because their schools don't participate in the federal loan programs. This pushes students who need to borrow to resort to risky private loans, payday loans, and credit cards, or to drop out or reduce their course load. Our brief also found significant gaps in loan access between racial and ethnic groups. See the press release and supporting materials.

Students Need Protection from Subprime Student Loans
February 5, 2008 - Statement of Robert Shireman, founder of the Project on Student Debt, calling for an amendment to the Higher Education Act that would allow private student loans to be dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Expert Praises Committee Action to Improve Consumer Protections for Private Student Loans, Urges Additional Provisions
August 1, 2007 - Robert Shireman comments on the Senate Banking Committee's passage of a bill that improved disclosures and reduced confusion about private student loans. This legislation laid the groundwork for the reforms that were included in the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Private Loan Policy Agenda
June 4, 2007 -  Our first policy agenda for private student loans outlines ways to provide students and parents with private loans access to the kind of information and consumer rights that other types of borrowers can count on.

Private Student Loans: More Important Than Child Support and Taxes?
May 30, 2007 - A blog post by Robert Shireman about the unfair and unfounded exemption that makes private student loans harder to discharge in bankruptcy than other consumer debt.

Shopping for Student Loans: Treacherous Territory
April 25, 2007 - A blog post by Robert Shireman about the lack of transparency available to consumers about private loans.