What’s your experience with private student loans? This is the question that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is asking and they want to hear your story.
Together with the Department of Education, the CFPB is compiling an in-depth study of the student loan market to be presented to Congress later this year. The bureau has a strong history of operating transparently, and this open approach continues with this latest effort at reaching out to better understand what consumers are really experiencing.
What Is The CFPB Looking For?
- What kind of non-federal loans are students and families using, and why are these being used before all federal loan options have been exhausted?
- What is the source of the loans you are choosing? How did you rationalize the loan decision? Were the disclosures adequate?
- What type of loan options were offered by your school? What kind of student aid was offered at your school?
- What is your private student loan repayment experience? Have funding options impacted your study decisions and career choice?
These are the types of questions that the CFPB is seeking answers to, and are necessary to better understand what the consumers of student loans are experiencing. Whether you have two sentences or two pages to share, they want to hear from you.
Submit your comment here:
Whether your student loan experience has been beneficial or negative, I hope you are able to share your story. This is an opportunity to participate in new policy formation that will hopefully improve the experience for everyone seeking student loans in the future.
For more information please visit the CFPB website where you can read the full Federal Register notice for information.
I really like this approach by the CFPB, and I think their site is great. I don’t have any personal experience with private student loans, and I can’t say I’ve heard much, good or bad, about them either.
I believe the issue that they’re testing and trying to understand is why people choose private student loans before exhausting all federal (less expensive) loan options. Commercial marketing systems are clever about getting in with some schools and providing incentives for the school to push private loans. Without all the information about available options, students may be needlessly steered into the more expensive product. Of course, this is just an opinion.
Good initiative by CFPB. I hope something good comes out of this. Private loans are out of control.
Thanks MC. I agree with you. I think there’s a place for private loans, but they only beneift society when people have all the information and are aware of their options.
Great effort by the CFPB. I only have experience with Pells. Curious, why would anyone want the more expensive private loan? Just lazy or don’t know where to look?
I think there are two issues. The first is knowledge of what is available, and the second is what is being pushed upon students. Schools can potentially profit from affiliate relationships with private lenders, so naturally they present these options to students. Are they acting in the best interests of students? Probably not. Should students be aware of their options? Yes. The CFPB wants to improve awareness and ensure students are presented with the full range of options.
Just as other student loan borrowers have today, I too have been struggling to pay my student loan as far as I can to avoid having a bad credit record. As we all know having a bad credit record is like a pain that cannot remove in your life immediately, you need to clear it out for you to easily borrow another loan.