Buried Under Student Loan Debt? The Government Is Here to Help

"I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

Those nine words may terrify many people, but to today's ex-students -- some of whom feel helplessly crushed under a mountain of student loan debt -- those words may be the most reassuring thing they've ever heard.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced last week that it will be soliciting comments from the public about how best to alleviate the crushing loan burden some students are facing in this post-financial-crash economy, one without without the jobs they counted on to make good on that loan burden.

You're on your own, kid
"Too many private student loan borrowers are struggling with unwieldy debt that prevents them from climbing the economic ladder," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in the release announcing the plan.

Indeed. Having tens of thousands of dollars in debt hanging over your head from the get-go -- with no employment in sight -- means buying a car or getting a mortgage is most likely out of the question.

With this call for comments, the CFPB is looking to address private student loan debt in particular. Out of the $1 trillion in total outstanding student debt, 15 percent of it is private, not backed by the federal government.

For those with government-backed student loans, there's a hardship option that at least lets students avoid default through an income-based repayment scheme. So if you don't make a lot, you don't have to pay a lot. But if you have private student loans, you're on your own with the bank you borrowed from.


Trying to avoid Financial Crisis 2.0
Aside from the personal pain this mountain of private student-loan debt is causing, the other concern the CFPB has is the effect it could have on the economy as a whole.

Alongside the mortgage-lending boom of the 2000s, there was also a private student-lending boom. As with the mortgage-lending boom, there was an excess of lending to people who never should have gotten loans in the first place. And again as with the mortgage-lending boom, a lot of this private student-loan debt was packaged into asset-backed securities for sale to investors.

Five-plus years ago, when homeowners started defaulting en masse on their mortgages, the securities these mortgages had been packaged into also began to default, triggering the financial crisis.

If private-student-loan borrowers begin defaulting on their loans now, the thinking goes, the securities their loans were packaged into could also default, potentially triggering another financial crisis -- this one generated by defaulting private student loans instead of defaulting home loans.

United we're solvent
One of most interesting aspects of the CFPB's comment solicitation project is that the agency is looking for help in solving this problem not just from distressed borrowers, but also from banks and other vested parties.

"We want to hear from borrowers, lenders, schools, and everyone with a stake in the success of this market," Rohit Chopra, the CFPB's student-loan ombudsman, said in a statement announcing the plan.

This makes sense. The banks who made these loans -- even if they lent in a predatory manner -- have as much of a vested interest in working out a payment scheme with defaulting borrowers as the borrowers themselves do.

So whether you're a debt-soaked ex-student, a banker, or even just a concerned citizen, you have until April 8, 2013, to make your voice heard to the CFPB on this issue. Who knows? Your comment may be the one that makes the student-loan debt burden for you or someone you know far more bearable, and keep the country on a far more stable financial footing.

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John Grgurich is a regular contributor to The Motley Fool. Follow his dispatches from the bleeding heart of capitalism on Twitter @TMFGrgurich.