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Student Loans

Some of the Attorney General’s top priorities are protecting people’s hard-earned money and fighting for people who are investing in their education and their futures. This means cracking down on fraudulent student loan relief groups; investigating for-profit colleges that scam families, target veterans, and cheat consumers; and making sure that students are treated fairly in how they choose and pay for their higher education.  Learn more below about how the Department of Justice is advocating for student loan borrowers.

Recent Student Loan Developments

To make sure North Carolinians have important up to date information regarding student loans, please review the information below.  In addition to consulting the resources below, contact your loan servicer or Federal Student Aid (FSA).

  1. Make sure your contact information is up to date with the office of FSA and your loan servicer.
  2. Learn about changes to Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, including the new SAVE Plan.  More information from FSA about the IDR and SAVE plans is available here and here.
  3. Review your eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).  Learn more from FSA.
  4. Stay up to date on the Department of Education’s payment count adjustments toward IDR and PSLF programs.  More information from FSA is available here.
  5. See if you are eligible for Fresh Start, a federal program designed to help eligible borrowers in default.  More information from FSA is available here.

And, as always, beware of scams and alert our office!  There are many ongoing developments on the student loan front, and these changes may bring confusion and uncertainty.  Scammers thrive in these conditions, so borrowers should be alert.  Learn more scam tips here.

How to File a Complaint

To file a consumer complaint regarding a student loan, including a predatory loan, scam, or unfair and deceptive trade practice, contact our office’s Consumer Protection Division:

In addition to filing a complaint with NCDOJ’s Consumer Protection Division, you can also:

Guidance for Student Loan Borrowers

The Attorney General wants North Carolinians to have the information needed to make good decisions about student loans, including the resources below.

Review our Student Loan Tips, including information for those who are considering student loans and for current student loan borrowers.

Make sure your contact information is up to date with your loan servicer and at StudentAid.gov.

Use the federal government’s loan simulator tool to calculate your student loan payments, ensure you are on the best repayment plan, and consider if loan consolidation is right for you.

Be on the lookout for student loan scams, and contact our office if you believe you may have been a victim of a scam.

If you have questions or concerns about your loans, contact your student loan servicer for free help.

Work to Protect Student Loan Borrowers

The Attorney General is committed to protecting North Carolina students and families, including the examples below.

Student Loan Servicers

The Attorney General held national student loan servicer Navient accountable for its unfair and deceptive servicing and predatory lending, securing $37 million in student loan relief for more than 13,000 NC student loan borrowers. More information is available here.

For-Profit Colleges

The U.S. Department of Education announced it would discharge all remaining federal student loans for students who attended any college run by Corinthian Colleges. Students who attended a college run by Corinthian do not need to take any action to receive the benefit of this discharge. State attorneys general helped uncover widespread misconduct at the schools run by Corinthian, which closed in 2015, and the NC Attorney General has been fighting for loan relief for Corinthian’s students.

The Attorney General also advocated for students who attended national for-profit college chain ITT Educational Services, Inc.  If you attended ITT, you have several options depending on when you attended and what types of loans you took out.  More information is available here.

Student Loan Debt Relief Scams

The Attorney General stopped scammer Consumer Advocacy Center a/k/a Premier Student Loan Center from providing bogus student loan debt relief services, including making misrepresentations to borrowers, charging illegal advance fees for debt relief services, and providing false information to borrowers’ student loan servicers.  The Attorney General obtained $4,072,589 in refunds of illegal fees charged to 3,649 NC student loan borrowers.  Read more here.

For more information on managing student loan debt, please visit: