CFPB Proposes Initiative Regarding Collection of Student Loan Data

On February 16, 2017, the CFPB proposed an initiative that would allow the CFPB to more closely monitor the way consumers repay student debt and track student loan industry activities. Under the initiative, the CFPB proposes to collect student loan data from student loan servicers to obtain greater insight into the student loan market, allowing it to focus on key areas that might put consumers at risk.

The initiative proposes quarterly data collection on aggregated student loan servicing metrics and borrower outcomes from student loan servicers. According to the CFPB, the data would allow for greater insight into a number of aspects of the student loan market, including: (1) the total size of the student loan market (currently there is no public source for information about the private student loan market); (2) borrowers with federal student loans who seek to repay their loans based on how much money they make (this information would provide key data on the number of borrowers who apply to enroll in, or recertify their income and family size in, an Income-Driven Repayment plan); (3) borrowers who face the greatest risk of default (this data would provide insight into how servicers are helping the most vulnerable borrowers); and (4) borrowers with private student loans who experience financial distress (this data would help provide insight into the range of options private student loan servicers make available to struggling borrowers).

Copies of the CFPB’s announcement, as well as the initiative, can be viewed here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/increasing-transparency-student-loan-servicing-market/.