But what should the panel do about everyone else? Are there other types of borrowers who deserve to have their debt relieved?
That’s the big outstanding question the committee will try to wrestle with this week. It boils down to one word – “hardship” – and exactly how the Education Department chooses to define it.
USA TODAY first reported Friday that researchers with the University of California’s Student Loan Law Initiative will push the negotiators during the Tuesday session to consider using six indicators of financial stress – credit scores, outstanding mortgage balances, and progress toward paying down car loans, to name a few – as a shorthand for the kinds of life challenges that push borrowers into yearslong defaults.
