The Education Department is demanding so much money from seniors with
defaulted student loans that it’s forcing tens of thousands of them
into poverty, according to a government audit.
At least 22,000 Americans aged 65 and older had a part of their
Social Security benefits garnered last year to the point that their
monthly benefits were below federal poverty thresholds, according to the
Government Accountability Office.
Education Department-initiated collections on defaulted federal
student loans left at least another 83,000 Americans aged 64 and younger
with poverty-level Social Security payments, GAO data show. Federal
auditors cautioned that the number of Americans forced to accept
poverty-level benefits because of past defaults on federal student loans
are surely higher.
More than half, or 54 percent, of federal student loans held by
borrowers at least 75 years old are in default, according to the federal
watchdog. About 27 percent of loans held by borrowers aged 65 to 74 are
in default. Among borrowers aged 50 to 64, 19 percent of their loans
are in default.
taken from here
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