Lawmaker proposes Maine "Student Loan Bill of Rights"
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The national student loan debt has climbed to over $1.5 trillion, $6 billion of which is in Maine.
Lawmakers in Augusta are discussing a bill aimed at helping Maine borrowers.
The bill would create a "Student Loan Bill of Rights."
It would allow Maine to have oversight on the student loan servicers and prevent any predatory lending practices.
A former federal Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman spoke in support of the bill.
"What we see is that an entire generation has been forced to take on a historic amount of debt, but on top of that, to add insult to injury, they face predatory players from the day they get their first bill until the day they pay off their last loan," said Frotman. "And what this bill would do is empower the state to standup on behalf of those individuals."
Student loan debt is not only a problem for younger folks.
The latest study shows about 21,000 Maine seniors are still paying off student loan debt.
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