Author: Cory Turner

Millions of federal student loan borrowers are in default or well on their way. New federal data shows that tens of thousands of them attended the same problematic schools. Transcript LEILA FADEL, HOST: Many federal student loan borrowers are in crisis. We’ve previously reported that millions are in default on their loans or well on their way to defaults. New federal data offers one reason why. Hundreds of thousands of these borrowers attended the same problematic schools. NPR’s Cory Turner has been digging into this new data, and he joins us now to explain. Good morning, Cory.CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Good…

Lisa Collenbaugh says she still owes the U.S. government $10,389.47 for the certificate program she couldn’t afford to finish at UEI College. Jessica Pons for NPR hide caption toggle caption Jessica Pons for NPR Five-hundred colleges and universities in the U.S. now share one alarming distinction: At least 40% of recent students who borrowed federal loans aren’t paying them back. That’s according to the latest federal nonpayment-rate data published by the U.S. Education Department. The data looks at the roughly 17 million borrowers who entered repayment for the first time between January 2020 and May 2025. “These numbers are really…

DragonImages/iStockphoto via Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it was investigating Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas, much to the district’s surprise. The reason, according to a department press release: Teachers there “were directed to take students’ racial identities into account when issuing discipline as part of an effort to bring about ‘restorative justice’ to address ‘the disproportionality of discipline on students of color.'” Superintendent John Mulford says the district received notice of the investigation roughly two hours before the department publicly named Fayetteville as a target in its national release. “We’re a little shocked at this point…

Students create AI policy at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston. High school student Leena Jain of Louisiana addresses her fellow senators moments before the final vote. Kieran Kesner for NPR hide caption toggle caption Kieran Kesner for NPR BOSTON — Over the course of one frantic, late-July weekend, 98 teens representing all 50 states put their busy lives on hold to try to do something remarkable. The students, most of them high school juniors and seniors, gathered in a precise replica of the U.S. Senate chamber and attempted what the real, adult Congress…

Republicans’ new accountability test for colleges and universities will go into effect soon; the test will cut off federal aid to school programs whose graduates struggle to earn a reasonable living. Transcript JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: The U.S. Department of Education is rolling out a new federal test, one that most colleges and universities will eventually have to pass. The test is known as Do No Harm, and it’s pretty simple. If a program’s graduates don’t earn more than someone who never went to college, that program and its students could lose access to federal student loans. To better explain how…

Students toss their mortarboards in the air at a 2018 commencement ceremony at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images For the past two decades, graduate students have been able to take out an unlimited amount of federal student loans to cover the full cost of their education. If they needed $60,000 a year, they could borrow $60,000 a year, year after year. The Trump administration has a plan to change that by capping graduate school loans for many students at $20,500 a year, and $100,000 overall — effective July…

The Trump administration says it is moving some of the Education Department’s most important responsibilities, including oversight of special education and student civil rights, to other agencies. A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: The U.S. Department of Education is about to lose some of its signature responsibilities. An announcement from the Trump administration says agreements have been signed with other agencies to run federal special education programs and enforce students’ civil rights protections. NPR education correspondent Cory Turner is covering this. So, Cory, let’s start with special education. What’s happening there?CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Yeah. So the Education Department is shifting much of the…

Starting on July 1, the federal government will make some big changes to how student loans can be repaid or forgiven. A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Some major student loan changes go into effect on July 1. They were part of Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Act last year. NPR education correspondent Cory Turner runs through the top six changes in 90 seconds.CORY TURNER, BYLINE: All right. Here we go.(SOUNDBITE OF TIMER BEEPING)TURNER: One – it’s the end of the short-lived Biden-era repayment plan called SAVE. If you’re one of the 7 million borrowers who is still enrolled in SAVE, it’s time to…

Student loan borrowers who sign up for, or already use, auto pay will get a 1 percentage point discount on interest for two years, starting July 1. Daniel de la Hoz/Moment RF via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Daniel de la Hoz/Moment RF via Getty Images Student loan borrowers who enroll in automatic payments will get a much bigger discount on interest starting July 1, the U.S. Department of Education says. Auto pay has long offered a modest discount off borrowers’ interest rate — .25 percentage points — but after millions of borrowers opted out during the long COVID…

On July 1, a host of new student loan changes from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will kick in, including the end of a short-lived Biden-era repayment plan, the start of two Republican-designed repayment plans and strict new borrowing limits for some students. There’s a lot to parse, and not every change will impact every borrower. So we’ve designed this story to make it easy to find the guidance that does apply to you, or to the borrower in your life. To get started, click on the student loan status that best describes your situation below: You’re enrolled…