Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement on U.S. Department of Education Officially Recognizing States' Vital Role in Investigating Student Loan Servicers

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Education issuing a final interpretation confirming that state laws regulating various aspects of the servicing of federal student loans are fully enforceable, except “only in limited and discrete respects” where federal law may preempt or supersede it:

“Starting September 1, 2023, interest on federal student loans will once again begin accruing. Payments on those loans will resume the very next month. In short, we are going to need an all-hands-on-deck approach to protect federal student loan borrowers from servicer failures and misconduct,” said Attorney General Bonta. “States like California have long played an important role in that endeavor, and thanks to the U.S. Department of Education under the Biden-Harris Administration, we can continue doing so. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos tried to undermine federal-state partnership in regulating student-loan servicers, but as several of my fellow attorneys general and I previously argued, she was absolutely in the wrong.”