60D Comment Response NEA

March 12, 2024
The Honorable Miguel Cardona
Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION
RE: “Solicitation for Public Comments on Joint Consolidation Loan Separation
Application” (Docket No.: ED-2024-SCC-0005)
Dear Secretary Cardona:
We, the 33 organizations undersigned representing civil rights, consumer, disability, labor, legal
aid, student loan borrowers, and advocacy organizations, write to urge you to swiftly finalize the
Combined Application to Separate a Joint Consolidation Loan and Direct Consolidation Loan
Promissory Note and begin to implement this vital benefit for tens of thousands of spousal
consolidation borrowers.
Congress eliminated the Joint Consolidation Loan program in 2006, though it did not provide
borrowers with any means of severing existing loans. 1 For some, this meant that borrowers
remained financially intertwined with, and financially responsible for, former spouses, even in
the event of domestic violence, economic abuse, or an unresponsive partner. To make matters
worse, these borrowers lack full access to certain debt relief programs. For example, a borrower
with a Direct Joint Consolidation Loan cannot access relief through the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness (PSLF) program unless their co-borrower is also eligible for PSLF relief and
cooperates in the application process. Moreover, as things currently stand, Federal Family
Education Loan (FFEL) Joint Consolidation Loans are not eligible for consolidation into the
Direct Loan program, so borrowers holding these loans did not receive relief through the
payment pause, are not eligible for PSLF, and cannot access more generous Income-Driven
Repayment (IDR) plans in periods of financial hardship.
Implement without further delay. Thankfully, Congress finally righted this wrong in October
2022 when it passed the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act (JCLSA). 2 Through this
bipartisan measure, Congress directed the Department to allow these borrowers the opportunity
to separate their loans and receive the benefits they have been unjustly denied. But today, nearly
a year and a half later, the Department has failed to implement the JCLSA, blocking borrowers
from much-needed relief. It is imperative that the Department finalize this application and begin
to implement this law with urgency. While the Department has promised to deliver benefits to
these borrowers, including access to PSLF Waiver and the IDR Account Adjustment, many of
these borrowers are suffering in the meantime.
The proposed form is too long and complicated. The Department must make the form
simpler and automate additional relief whenever possible. Borrowers with these types of loans
report that the proposed form is confusing and burdensome to complete. The Department should

1
2

https://protectborrowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Delivering-Distress-Report.pdf
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1098/text

ensure that all borrowers who need to submit separate applications can easily do so.3 In
particular, until the fifth page, the form fails to provide clear instructions on whether both
borrowers need to complete separate applications. Who must complete the form should be made
clear at the outset.
In order to further reduce the administrative burden placed on borrowers entitled to student debt
relief, the Department must streamline these benefits wherever possible based on information
collected in the Separation Application. The Department should add an additional question
inquiring if a borrower separating their loans intends to seek additional benefits, such as an IDR
plan, PSLF, or Total and Permanent Disability, and fast-track these applications for additional
relief as the new Direct Consolidation Loan is being originated.
FSA Response: The proposed form serves as both an application to separate a joint consolidation
loan and a promissory note for the new Direct Consolidation Loan that the applicant will receive.
As such, the form must explain the application options as well as all the terms, conditions, and
benefits that will apply to the new consolidation loan. We have tried to make the form as concise
as possible, while also ensuring that it provides borrowers with all information needed to
understand how the joint debt will be separated and their rights and responsibilities with regard to
the new consolidation loan they will receive. To minimize burden on applicants, the proposed
form allows applicants to self-certify information wherever possible (for example, a joint
consolidation loan co-borrower who wishes to apply separately, without regard to whether or
when the other co-borrower applies to separate the joint debt, may certify that they meet the
eligibility criteria to do so without having to provide any supporting documentation).
With regard to the comment noting that the proposed form does not clearly explain at the
beginning whether the two joint consolidation loan co-borrowers must submit separate
applications, we will place revised and expanded instructions at the beginning of the form in an
effort to more clearly explain the application options and requirements.
We do not see a need to add an additional question asking if applicants intend to seek additional
benefits. As explained in Section 5 of the proposed form, applicants will be asked to choose a
repayment plan for their new Direct Consolidation Loan as part of the application process and
may select an IDR plan at that time. Asking applicants if they intend to apply for PSLF or Total
and Permanent Disability Discharge would offer no clear benefit. We also note that a joint
consolidation loan borrower may apply for Total and Permanent Disability discharge on the joint
consolidation loan; it is not necessary to first separate the joint debt.
Borrowers must be held harmless during the implementation of this law. Since payments
have resumed, student loan companies contracted by the Department have consistently shown
that they are struggling to deliver on the most basic tasks in a timely, accurate way,4 and have
Section 4 of the application permits borrowers to have separate applications, but only if one of the borrowers has
experienced economic abuse or an act of domestic violence as defined by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of
1994, or if the borrower who’s applying cannot reach or access their co-borrower’s loan information. VAWA defines
economic abuse as behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to
acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which the person is entitled. There are foreseeable circumstances
within the statute’s limitations when a borrower would need to apply separately, and for which ED should explicitly
allow. For example, former spouses may purposely hold up the application process. ED should consider this to be a
form of economic abuse as defined in VAWA.
4
https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-withholding-payment-student-loanservicer-part-accountability-measures-harmed-borrowers
3

failed at an even grander scale when it comes to implementing new benefits. 5 The Department
must give these companies clear instructions on how to process this form and separate these
loans, provide clear timelines for processing forms, and impose penalties on companies that fail
to meet these expectations or cause financial harm to these borrowers. In addition, borrowers
should not be required to continue making payments on their loans while the servicer is
processing their application unless the borrower requests to do so. This will help limit further
harm to borrowers who are currently required to make unaffordable payments while they await a
decision yet will otherwise qualify for a low- or zero-dollar payment under IDR plans or for
complete cancellation.
As the Department finalizes the application, it should keep in mind that these borrowers—
including survivors of domestic abuse—are harmed each day they are tethered to their coborrower’s loans. Borrowers with Joint Consolidation Loans, especially those held by FFEL
program lenders, have been ineligible for much of the historic debt relief actions taken by the
Biden Administration. Separating these loans will finally allow these borrowers to access
critical student loan relief programs and begin to restore faith in our student loan system. Again,
we urge you to implement this law without any further delay and continue to deliver on
President Biden’s promise to fix the broken loan system under which these borrowers continue
to suffer.
FSA Response: These comments do not relate to the information collection.
Sincerely,
National Education Association
SpousalConsolidation.DoUsPart!
Student Borrower Protection Center
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Center for Law & Social Policy
Community Service Society of New York
Consumer Reports
Economic Action Maryland
Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates
Latife Neu, Attorney at Law PLLC
Latinos for Education
Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
National Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of Student Loan Lawyers
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
National Disability Institute
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Navigate Student Loans
Public Counsel
Public Justice Center
5

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/your-money/student-loans-save-mistakes.html

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
SEIU Local 500
Student Debt Crisis Center
The Autistic People of Color Fund
The Century Foundation Higher Education Team
The Education Trust
The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)
Washington Student Loan Advocate
Young Invincibles