Elizabeth Warren Critical of Treasury Dept. for Endorsing Student Loan Lender Pay Raise
ByElizabeth Warren has made her distaste for certain student loan lenders known, yet the U.S. Treasury Department is endorsing a decision to increase what the government pays them.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin said in a speech to consumer rights advocates that increased funding will motivate the lenders to improve their customer service. Among the lenders under contract with the government is Navient Corp., a company that branched off from Sallie Mae.
According to the Huffington Post, Raskin failed to mention that the lenders will get their increased funding whether or not they improve their customer service. Warren famously warned Education Secretary Arne Duncan last Dec. against becoming Sallie Mae's "lapdog." Warren has been outspoken in criticizing the Education Department for continuing their contract with Sallie Mae/Navient even when they are accused of various customer rights violations.
The department confirmed the pay bump in Sept. during an exchange with Warren, who was unsurprisingly less than thrilled, the HP reported.
"Let me get this straight: You break the law. You don't follow the rules. You treat the borrowers badly," Warren said at the time. "And you all just renegotiated the contracts to make sure that across the portfolio, [loan servicers] are going to make a little more money if nothing changes?"
Student loan debt in the U.S. has reached approximately $1.3 trillion due in part to a tough job market on recent college grads. While officials argue that the continued business with these lenders is beneficial to borrowers, Warren does not believe this is the case.
"The idea of the renegotiation was to help the borrowers, not to make the servicers richer," Warren told William Leith, chief business officer for the Education Department's Office of Federal Student Aid. "I do not understand a basic renegotiation that says you can continue breaking the law, but we're going to pay you more money for doing it."