Student Financial Aid News

From Inside HIgher Ed:

Ombudsman’s offices at federal agencies are designed to be honest brokers — places where members of the public or aggrieved parties can go to resolve disputes “from a neutral, independent viewpoint,” as the ombudsman’s office at the U.S. Education Department Federal Student Aid office describes itself.

But the student aid agency’s ombudsman’s office is staffed by a company, Vangent, that also helps the department collect on defaulted and other loans, and several of the company’s employees in the ombudsman’s office formerly worked on loan collections. That revelation, which was made by a former student loan borrower affiliated with the group Student Loan Justice, troubles not only officials of that group but financial aid experts.

Commentary

An interesting revelation and good research by the folks over at Student Loan Justice. The group further recommended in their Facebook group that if you’re considering contacting the Ombudsman office about late payments on federal student loans that you instead hold off until their investigation is completed. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.

Scholarship Update

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