Dive Summary:
- On Monday, seven Congressional Republicans--referencing borrower complaints about the servicing of their loans--called for an investigation of the Obama administration's management of the federal direct-loan program in a letter to the Government Accountability Office.
- The expansion of the direct-loan program followed the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats bringing an end to the bank-based lending program in 2010, with savings from that move redirected into Pell Grant expansion.
- Financial aid professionals and student advocates have raised similar complaints to those in the Republcans' letter, including confusion over the increase in number of companies now servicing federal loans, but Democrats have praised the Obama administration for removing the "middlemen of banks and private lenders" from the federal student-loan system.
From the article:
Seven Republicans in Congress called on Monday for an investigation into the Obama administration's management of the federal direct-loan program, citing borrower complaints about how their loans were being serviced. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, Republican leaders of the Congressional education committees asked the watchdog agency to prepare a report on how the Department of Education was administering the direct-loan program, overseeing loan servicers, and communicating with borrowers. ...