Chris Van Hollen: “in a time when most students graduate with at least $20,000 in debt, it is more important than ever that students can…”

“in a time when most students graduate with at least $20,000 in debt, it is more important than ever that students can find loans with low interest rates that are easy to pay back. In the best case, students can get federal financial aid. However, more and more students have maxed out that aid and are turning to the private market. Many schools recommend lenders to help students and their families find loans. Now, most schools do work in the best interest of their students, and choose preferred lenders based on the benefits they can give students. But, as we have seen, some unscrupulous lenders have schemed with certain unscrupulous staff of college loan offices to serve their own special interests rather than the interests of students and their families. What is worse, the Department of Education knew about these cozy relationships between student loan officials and lenders and did nothing about it. This is indicative of the lack of oversight that has persisted at the Department of Education for the last six years.”