All posts by Richard Fossey

About Richard Fossey

Richard Fossey is a professor at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana. He received his law degree from the University of Texas and his doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is editor of Catholic Southwest, A Journal of History and Culture.

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  The Department of Education Is Cooking the Books: Federal Reserve Bank Says $166 Billion in Student Debt is Delinquent

  Most Americans have confidence in what the Federal Reserve Bank says about the national economy. I know I do. But when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that $166 billion is student debt is delinquent,...

  • Posted February 19, 2019
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  Kinney v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust: Bankruptcy Judge Thad Collins discharges student loans that a man cosigned for his niece

  Anthony Kinney, a 52-year-old working guy with a modest job in the plastic industry, co-signed three student loans for his niece. His niece defaulted, and National Collegiate Master Student Trust I (probably an investment fund) began efforts...

  • Posted February 14, 2019
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  We Are All Peasants Now: the student loan crisis is destroying the middle class

  “As the world changed, we reverted to social divisions that we’d thought were obsolete. . . . A plain majority of the townspeople were laborers now, whatever in life they had been before. Nobody called them peasants,...

  • Posted February 14, 2019
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• Department of Education’s Heightened Cash Monitoring List: Students should check to see if their college is in financial trouble

  Steve Rhode performed a valuable public service last month when he published the U.S. Department of Education’s most recent Heightened Cash Monitoring List. This is DOE’s list of schools that have various financial concerns, including accreditation problems...

  • Posted January 9, 2019
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  Lord Abbett Affiliated v. Navient Corporation: “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!”

  More than a year ago, Lord Abbett Affiliated Funds sued Navient Corporation for fraud and securities violations, claiming it was deceived by Navient’s representations about its student loan portfolio. Navient is a student-loan servicing company that manages...

  • Posted January 2, 2019
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  Chinnock v. Navient Corporation Could be Groundbreaking

  Julie Anne Chinnock sued Navient Corporation,the U.S. Department of Education, and a Navient student-loan trust a few days ago, seeking two forms of relief. Ms. Chinnock wants compensation for an invasion of her privacy and a declaratory...

  • Posted December 26, 2018
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  Bankruptcy Judge Grants Victory to 59-Year-Old Federal Student Loan Debtor

  The Remarkable Case of Vicky Jo Metz Twenty -seven years ago, Vicky Jo Metz, took out $16,613 in student loans to go to community college. Over time, she paid back 90 percent of what she borrowed–almost $15,000....

  • Posted December 19, 2018
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  You Should Die Before You Pay Off Your Student Loans: Estate Planning for Elderly Student-Loan Debtors

  Steve Rhode posted an essay yesterday titled “Make Sure You Die Before Your Parent Plus and Federal Student Loans Are Forgiven.” As Mr. Rhode explained, the federal government cancels all unpaid student loans owed by debtors who...

  • Posted December 19, 2018
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  Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a “Disaster” According to DOE Official

  In a recent speech, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos called the federal student loan program “a thunderstorm loom on the horizon.” Only 20 percent of borrowers are paying down the principal and interest on their loans, DeVos...

  • Posted December 10, 2018
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  Betsy DeVos Appears to Admit the Federal Student Loan Program is Doomed

  Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s Secretary of Education, gave a speech a few days ago in which she candidly acknowledged that the federal student-loan program is in crisis. In fact, she compared the student loan program to a...

  • Posted December 4, 2018
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  These Two Colleges Face Their Demise With Grace

  “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.” Who said that? I think it was some dead guy from the 19th century. Charles Dickens maybe? Iowa Wesleyan University and Valparaiso...

  • Posted November 9, 2018
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  Education Corporation of America Tries to Slam Door to Keep Out Plaintiffs

  Update: The Judge hearing the ECA case, dismissed it after the guest post below was submitted. I guess it’s game on again. Education Corporation of America (ECA), a for-profit college chain, brazenly filed a federal lawsuit in...

  • Posted November 6, 2018
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  We Will Give More Than You Can Afford to Borrow and Then Punish You For Doing So

  In April 2016, Pierre Augustin filed an adversary complaint in a Maryland bankruptcy court, seeking to discharge $210,000 in student loan debt. He told the court he had been burdened by this debt for 24 years, and...

  • Posted October 31, 2018
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  Education Corporation of America files for receivership: Using lawyers’ tricks to suck up more federal student-loan money

  Education Corporation of America (ECA), a for-profit college chain, filed a lawsuit a few days ago in an Alabama federal court. The lawsuit seeks to put ECA into receivership, and it asks the court to halt all...

  • Posted October 25, 2018
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  Why Did Department of Education Let FedLoan Servicing Screw People Over PSLF?

  As Alan White reported in Credit Slip yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education assigned the complex task of monitoring the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to its worst-performing student-loan servicer–FedLoan Servicing (Fedloan). In 2017, DOE ranked...

  • Posted October 15, 2018
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