by L. Song Richardson

Crippling student loan debt, which affects countless attorneys across the state of California, is one of the defining economic challenges of this generation. Forty-four million Americans now owe more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, easily more than any other kind of consumer debt, except for mortgages. More than one-in-four student loan borrowers have fallen behind on their student debt payments. Student loans are the fastest growing segment of U.S. household debt, with almost 157% growth over the last eleven years.

The $1.5 trillion student loan market sits largely unregulated. The U.S. Department of Education hires companies to service the loans and help struggling borrowers. The execution has been, at best, careless, and, at worst, criminal. In the more serious situations, servicers are accused of providing bad information over the phone and in writing, overcharging borrowers, and, in at least one case, preventing borrowers from making qualifying monthly payments. Recent data from the Department of Education shows that 99% of applications under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan have been denied.

To complicate matters, in February, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos argued in an internal memo that the servicers are protected from state laws and regulations. In response, more than half of the state attorneys general, including California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, wrote to DeVos, arguing the department cannot “sweep away state laws that apply to student loan services and debt collectors by fiat.” There are 3.7 million student loan borrowers in California alone, and the average student loan debt in the state is $33,250.

Over the past decade, borrowers have turned to the courts, regulators, and lawmakers to protect and expand their rights. These efforts have faltered, lacking a solid foundation of rigorous analysis and comprehensive legal research.

We need to protect those who have fallen victim to a feckless, harmful, and at times, corrupt system, and prevent future generations from suffering similar hardships.

In November, University of California, Irvine School of Law created the Student Loan Law Initiative (SLLI) in partnership with the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC). UCI Law is a community of leading scholars and future advocates committed to serving the public interest. The SBPC is a new nonprofit focused on alleviating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. Through our unique new partnership, the SLLI will focus its attention on the student debt crisis.

We plan to attack the matter through a multi-faceted approach.

First, we will drive novel research and scholarship to establish a new academic discipline known as “student loan law.” This discipline will touch on areas of consumer law, bankruptcy, constitutional law, civil rights, education law, and administrative law. UCI Law professors, in particular Dalié Jiménez, a founder of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Jonathan Glater, a national expert in education law, will lead this charge. We will also collaborate with faculty across the nation to develop this new, policy-focused scholarship.

Second, we will pursue creative approaches to data-driven research that highlights the challenges facing student loan borrowers in California and across the county. Rather than relying on analysis funded by the student loan industry, policymakers will benefit from new, rigorous scholarship and data that can illuminate the true cost of the student debt crisis.

Lastly, UCI Law’s Consumer Law Clinic, led by Professor Stacey Tutt, will identify emerging risks to student loan borrowers and build impact litigation to address them. Additionally, the Clinic will offer free legal assistance to student loan borrowers struggling to have their Public Service Loan Forgiveness applications approved.

Student loan debt is an inescapable part of our country’s zeitgeist. The scholarship and data that UCI Law will produce through the SLLI and the Consumer Law Clinic will be groundbreaking, impactful, and novel. This is a historic opportunity to define the embryonic field of student loan law and create consumer-driven reform.

UCI Law is in the midst of celebrating its ten-year anniversary, and the SLLI is a perfect example of the innovative and groundbreaking projects the law school has undertaken over the past decade. Our professors are visionary leaders in their respective fields, our students are learning how to be extraordinary advocates committed to public service, and the Orange County community is a supportive and eager partner. Through this dynamic, UCI Law has thrived in its mission to train students for the practice of law at the highest levels, while simultaneously enriching the lives of countless individuals.

This spring, we will debut an exhibit at UCI’s Langson Library celebrating our pioneering and entrepreneurial community partners, faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as showcasing UCI Law’s unparalleled rise to excellence and international recognition. We hope that you will join us as we highlight our past, build our future, and continue to defy expectations.

L. Song Richardson is Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine School of Law.