Debt Collectors Hunt Student Loans

Debt collectors are zeroing in on the millions of American struggling to make student loan payments. The numbers—one of every six borrowers in default, an average of $76 billion in defaulted loans every year—represent a potential feast for the industry, and collection agencies are lining up at the trough. The Department of Education paid collectors $1.4 billion to collect on government loans last year. “I couldn’t believe the accumulated wealth they represent—for our industry,” wrote one industry consultant after witnessing a debt protest by NYU students last year. “It was lip-smacking.”