'These are big bills': Oregon's student loan watchdog logs record high complaints

WASHINGTON - EntSun -- Shaanth Nanguneri, DME Music News

Oregonians are filing a record number of grievances with a state official who helps ensure student loan servicers follow the law, according to an annual report from the Department of Consumer and Business Services.

The 26 pages of findings — released earlier this month in consultation with the department's Division of Financial Regulation and its student loan ombudsman — say that 95 complaints were made to the ombudsman's office from June 2024 to May 2025. That marks a more than 30% jump from the previous reported year's caseload. The department attributes the rise to shifting federal guidance and a lack of clarity from loan payment administrators.

The office had more open complaints when the report was published than at any other comparable period in the office's three-year history, despite also investigating and closing more complaints per month than in previous years.

"I am speaking to so many people," Lane Thompson, Oregon's student loan ombuds, told the Capital Chronicle. "Just the kind of overall feeling among borrowers is that their student loans are becoming more expensive. They are more difficult to deal with. We're talking about a time when most people list the economy as a number one concern, these are big bills for people."

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The amount of student debt Oregonians owe is higher than the nationwide average, with the Beaver State's more than 533,000 federal student loan borrowers having about $44,000 in debt, according to a January 2025 fact sheet from the D.C-based Student Borrower Protection Center.

The state's report organized the most common complaints from individuals seeking to pay off that debt by keyword, with phrases such as "forgiveness/cancellation" and "servicer provided wrong information" ranking at the top.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/get-help-to-pay-student-loans-mooka-da-babe/1147875867

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oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/22/these-are-big-bills-oregons-student-loan-watchdog-logs-record-high-complaints/