Tool to Help Navigate Student Loan Repayment Programs

CFPB – new report “Innovation Highlights: Emerging Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs”



Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “CFPB” released a new data finding that nearly half of student loan borrowers leave school owing at least $20,000 – double the number of borrowers a decade ago. The Bureau also found that more borrowers are taking out student loans later in life, and fewer borrowers are paying down their student debt in five years.

Suggestion on saving for your child’s education and know the key changes in the way consumers borrow and repay student debt.

More than 40 percent of student loan borrowers leave school owing $20,000 or more.

Half of student loan borrowers are older than 34 when they start repayment.

30 percent of borrowers are not paying down their loan balances after five years in repayment.

More than 60 percent of borrowers not reducing their balances are delinquent: Among these borrowers, those with less than $20,000 in student loans are even more likely to be in poor standing, with 75 percent delinquent on at least one of their loans. More information can be found in the Bureau’s explainer blog on this topic.

The CFPB provides a Repay Student Debt tool, which helps borrowers get unbiased tips on how to navigate student loan repayment, along with other sample letters they can send to their student loan servicers. More information is available at: consumerfinance.gov/students.

Plus CFPB has lots of other resources dealing with student loans, consumer credit card, car loans, payday loans and more.