WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) commended today’s announcement of new U.S. Department of Education rules to crack down on deceptive and unfair campus banking practices and establish new student borrower protections. In July, Brown – ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – and several of his Senate colleagues urged the agency to develop the strongest rules possible to protect college students’ financial interests. 

“College students should not be steered to a particular bank in order to receive their federal student loans, including through debit cards that come with high fees and more marketing than transparency,” said Brown. “The Department of Education’s new rules will finally give students more choice about how to receive federal financial aid. These common-sense reforms will help protect students from hidden and excessive fees, secret contracts between schools and financial institutions, and other harmful practices that drain federal financial aid and make college even more expensive.”

Brown, who successfully advocated for the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s student loan ombudsman position, has been at the forefront of protecting students’ financial interests. In 2009, he was an original co-sponsor of the CARD Act, which provided protections for students from abusive credit card practices and required credit card issuers to produce annual reports of their arrangements with schools. However, financial institutions have often replaced credit card arrangements with higher education institutions with arrangements related to other financial products. 

 

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