This document is intended to help institutions of postsecondary education understand their rights and responsibilities relating to school cohort default rates for the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)Program. Section 1 focuses on the calculation of FY 1993 official cohort default rates including how student loan activity is tracked and…

Debtors seeking discharge in bankruptcy of student loans should be aware of certain arguments in their favor: that the burden of persuasion should remain on the creditor throughout; the standard of proof should be the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard; and that burden of production is, for the most part, the creditor's. Recent case law is…

This survey concludes that, overall, student debt has not caused most borrowers to make lifestyles changes nor regret their educational investment. Discussion analyzes borrower debt levels; payment-to-income and debt-to-income ratios; noneducation debt burden; student perceptions about borrowing and debt; effect of borrowing on decision making;…

This report examines issues relevant to establishing an Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) ombudsman office within the Department of Education. The OSFA ombudsman office came out of the need to improve student lending program services and to mitigate the impact of loan default on students. It was determined that students involved in…

The report provides background information on the next reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act, and is intended for college and university financial aid officers. An introductory section chronicles the history of federal legislation for student financial aid. The next section outlines the congressional reauthorization process,…