美国国家公共电台 NPR--Borrowers who were cut out of student loan relief describe 'a gut punch'

Borrowers who were cut out of student loan relief describe 'a gut¹ punch'

Transcript²

Listen closely. Between the din³ of supporters cheering the cancellation⁴ of some federal student loan debts, and the clamor of conservative lawyers arguing that President Biden's debt relief plan is wildly unconstitutional, you can hear the frustration⁵ of borrowers trapped in the middle.

"Emotionally, it's like a gut punch," says Chris Tasich.

Lisa Thackwell uses the same language: "A punch to the gut. It would have cut my debt in half," Thackwell says of Biden's August promise to erase⁶ $10,000 of her loan debt. She and her husband had planned to put the savings⁷ toward their boys' education.

But that was before the U.S. Department of Education quietly reversed itself last month, and suddenly excluded hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers, including Tasich and Thackwell, from Biden's debt relief plan – borrowers it had told, just weeks earlier, could qualify.

FFEL loans are federal loans, managed by private banks

Tasich and Thackwell have an old kind of student loan, known as a Federal Family Education Loan or FFEL. Once the foundation of the federal student loan program, FFELs were issued and managed by private banks or state-based lenders, but guaranteed by the U.S. government.

Today, most federal student loans are Direct Loans, but before 2010 Direct Loans were a sideshow to the FFEL program's main attraction.

"We should always keep in mind that FFEL loans are federal loans, period," says Dominique Baker⁸, a professor of education policy at Southern Methodist University.

The Obama administration shuttered the FFEL program in 2010 in an effort to save money.

Thus began the ascendancy⁹ of federal Direct Loans. But more than a decade after the FFEL program ended, more than 4 million borrowers still have these old loans, held by banks and outside lenders. And Baker says these are precisely¹⁰ the borrowers Biden's plan was meant to help, with its promise of providing "more breathing room to America's working families".

"[FFEL] borrowers were more likely to attend community colleges, for-profits and HBCUs. And this is fairly old debt," Baker says. Characteristics that often also describe low-income borrowers.

That's why, in August, President Biden told FFEL borrowers they could qualify for debt relief. All they needed to do, according to the Education Department website, was consolidate¹¹ their old loans into new, Direct Loans. Those new loans would then qualify them for relief.

That guidance would change dramatically just a month later.

The lawsuit¹² that dashed the hopes of many FFEL borrowers

When Biden first announced his loan relief program, Jennifer Newell Davies started making plans.

"I was really counting on having that lower monthly payment to contribute to my mortgage," says Davies, who has just under $6,000 in outstanding FFEL loans.

Then, in late September, several Republican state attorneys general sued Biden and the Education Department, arguing that erasing¹³ these old FFEL loans would cause serious financial harm to the banks and outside lenders who still manage and profit from them – and calling on the courts to stop debt relief for all. The day that suit was filed, Sept. 29, the department quietly changed its rules to exclude FFEL borrowers who had not yet applied¹⁴ to consolidate their loans.

Davies says she was waiting to consolidate until the department officially released its debt relief application (which happened on Monday). "All the messaging I got was to wait, and we were told to wait, wait, wait. And then all of a sudden, the rug pulled out from beneath us."

"Honestly, I cried a bit when I found out it might not be forgiven," she says. "And that's when I started the petition."

Davies is gathering¹⁵ signatures from fellow borrowers to make clear this reversal will hurt a lot of people. But she worries no one will care.

"Republicans aren't stepping out there to help," Davies says, pointing out that it's Republicans filing these legal challenges, "but now it feels like Democrats¹⁶ are turning their backs."

It feels that way because the Education Department reversed itself without a formal announcement, explanation or acknowledgment of the whiplash borrowers were experiencing.

In fact, some FFEL borrowers told NPR they weren't expecting debt relief when Biden announced his plan in August. Their frustration now – and anger – is over the reversal itself: Being told they qualify, then five weeks later being told they don't, without any explanation.

At the time, all the department offered was this statement to NPR:

"Our goal is to provide relief to as many eligible¹⁷ borrowers as quickly and easily as possible, and this will allow us to achieve that goal while we continue to explore additional legally-available options to provide relief to borrowers with privately¹⁸ owned FFEL loans and Perkins loans, including whether FFEL borrowers could receive one-time debt relief without needing to consolidate... The FFEL program is now defunct¹⁹ and only a small percentage of borrowers have FFEL loans."

The change affects almost 800,000 borrowers

That last line, about FFEL borrowers being a "small percentage," became the sum of the Biden administration's strategy: to downplay the reversal by minimizing the number of borrowers affected²⁰.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, "the number of borrowers impacted in this change is much smaller. I know there [were reports of] a number of millions, but it's actually much smaller."

Compared to the more than 40 million borrowers who could potentially qualify for debt relief, Jean-Pierre is right. The excluded FFEL borrowers account for just 2% of the whole.

But that's still just under 800,000 borrowers, according to the White House – enough disillusioned²¹ people to fill Yankee Stadium at least 14times.

"It makes me so angry. They just continue to say that, 'It's a small group. It's a small group. It's a small group,' " says FFEL borrower Chris Tasich. "But it's a vulnerable group. They've held debt longer than most. And they've consistently been marginalized."

"I'm really upset that there are those of us who have been paying for 20 years, and we're considered a small enough number that we can be disposed of," says FFEL borrower Amy Rush. "I don't know if other people are as disillusioned as I am, but, you know, I'm hoping we can fight back."

FFEL borrowers have repeatedly been excluded from benefits enjoyed by Direct Loan borrowers, even though the only real difference between them is when they took out their federal loans.

For example, some of the controversy²² around borrowers failing to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) stemmed from the kind of loans they had. Direct Loans qualified²³; FFELs didn't, even though they were the workhorse of the federal student loan program when PSLF was created.

More recently, FFEL borrowers with loans still held by outside lenders couldn't qualify for the pandemic pause in interest and repayment²⁴, either, without switching to Direct Loans.

"Really through the last several decades, [FFEL borrowers] are always the borrowers thrown under the bus," says Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center. "They were excluded from the CARES Act. They were excluded from PSLF. They've been excluded from the more generous [income-driven repayment plans]. It really is tragic²⁵ how FFEL borrowers have been treated as if they're expendable."

One FFEL borrower files a lawsuit

Recent court documents offer the clearest explanation yet for why the Biden administration suddenly excluded FFEL borrowers from debt relief.

On Oct. 7, the Justice Department cited the FFEL rule change in its rebuttal to that lawsuit from several Republican state attorneys general, arguing that, since the department excluded FFEL borrowers from its debt relief plan, these FFEL lenders can no longer demonstrate harm.

Translation: The White House cut these borrowers out to legally protect debt relief for everyone else.

To the 98% of borrowers who still qualify, that may seem a worthy²⁶ sacrifice.

To the 2% left behind, it's cold comfort.

What's more, while excluding FFEL borrowers may help the department deflect²⁷ one lawsuit (the judge has yet to weigh in), it may have a different effect in another.

On Oct. 10, the conservative Job Creators Network Foundation's Legal Action Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of two plaintiffs, one of whom, Myra Brown, is herself a FFEL borrower who does not qualify for debt relief.

"If the Department is going to provide debt forgiveness, Ms. Brown believes that her student loan debt should be forgiven too," the complaint says. "She believes it is irrational²⁸, arbitrary, and unfair to exclude her."

As a result, the plaintiffs argue, a judge should stop debt cancellation for all borrowers.

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

4 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

9 ascendancy   

n.统治权，支配力量

参考例句：

• We have had ascendancy over the enemy in the battle.在战斗中我们已占有优势。
• The extremists are gaining ascendancy.极端分子正逐渐占据上风。

10 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

11 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

18 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

19 defunct   

adj.死亡的；已倒闭的

参考例句：

• The scheme for building an airport seems to be completely defunct now.建造新机场的计划看来整个完蛋了。
• This schema object is defunct.No modifications are allowed until it is made active again.此架构对象不起作用。在重新激活之前，不能进行任何改动。

20 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

21 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

22 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

23 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

24 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

25 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

26 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

27 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

28 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。