WASHINGTON, D.C. - There are dozens of legislative proposals before Congress to address mounting student loan debt but lawmakers are still at odds over how the country got into the crisis in the first place.
"I’m 33 and growing up it was drilled into our heads, you got to go to college if you want a middle class job. We even tell kids today, if you don’t go to college, you might as well get a face tattoo and then they point to Post Malone and we are like ok, that’s one guy," said comedian Hasan Minhaj.
Minhaj was invited to Capitol Hill Tuesday to offer some levity to an issue that is growing increasingly serious.
Americans owe a staggering 1.6 trillion dollars in student loan debt.
In 2018, a U.S. Department of Education report indicated Kentucky was the 4th worst state in the nation for student loan defaults.
"When a student borrower calls their loan servicer, say Navient, Navient will rush you off of the phone, often times within seven minutes or less," said Minhaj.
Navient provided the following statement when Spectrum News reached out to the corporation about the allegation loan servicers rush borrowers off of the phone.
“Navient supports the investments students make in their higher education by assisting them in successfully repaying their student loans, working within the constructs of the program the government designed. In fact, we have helped increase income-driven repayment plan enrollment to record highs and helped lower default rates. There’s no support for the allegation about call times. Navient, like other customer service-oriented companies, measures call times; we do not set any time limits for calls. And after a 2017 review, the Department of Education said Navient’s call times were longer than other servicers.”
Minhaj gave voice to the student loan debt crisis earlier this year on his Netflix series the Patriot Act. The episode, much like this week’s House Financial Services Committee hearing, focused on the alleged predatory practices of student loan servicing corporations – accusing them of getting rich off of the misery of more than 40 million Americans.
Former student loan ombudsman Seth Frotman who resigned last year in protest also testified.
"The student debt crisis is a consumer protection crisis because too many for too long have allowed predatory players to have near free reign to prey on the struggle of student loan borrowers," said Frotman, who now serves as Executive Director of the Student Borrower Protection Center.
Democrats are pushing to establish a student borrowers’ bill of rights but it’s unclear if that could win widespread bipartisan support.
Republicans are adamant the student loan servicing industry is not to blame. They say policies implemented during the Obama administration are responsible for the crisis.
Some also argue there needs to be more focus on steering young people towards careers in skilled trades.
"I know everybody wants a boogeyman and the student loan servicers are a convenient boogeyman but guess what, look in the mirror Congress. Congress created this crisis. Congress created the forbearance option. Congress gave loans to students and didn’t even care if they had the ability to repay," said Rep. Andy Barr of Lexington, Kentucky.
Lawmakers also raised concerns about rapidly rising tuition rates and stagnant wages as contributing to the problem.