American Student Assistance Campaign Garners Nearly 4 Million Views of Information on Student
Loan Income Driven Repayment
Surpasses Original Pledge Taken Under “White House Student Debt Challenge”
BOSTON, Mass. (April 27, 2017) – As part of the White House Student Debt Challenge, American Student
Assistance®, a private nonprofit dedicated to eliminating finance as a barrier to education and the
dreams education enables, achieved nearly 4 million views of its communications around federal income
driven repayment (IDR) over the past six months, far surpassing the organization’s original goal of 1
million impressions.
“For many struggling student loan borrowers, income driven repayment could be the solution to making
their education debt manageable,” said Betsy Mayotte, director of consumer outreach and compliance
for the Center for Consumer Advocacy at American Student Assistance. “Unfortunately, far too few
borrowers know about the various IDR plans or how they work. We are thrilled that our campaign nearly
quadrupled the number of views we originally set out to achieve. Our national economy can only thrive
with a college-educated workforce unhampered by crippling student debt.”
Enrollment in IDR plans has surged in recent years but many analysts believe the plans are still largely
under-utilized. The Department of the Treasury estimates 51 percent of Direct Loan borrowers are
eligible for some form of income based repayment, yet only 24 percent are using an IDR plan as of 2016,
according to the Government Accountability Office. Meanwhile, a recent analysis of federal data by the
Consumer Federation of America shows that on average 3,000 student loan borrowers default every
day, with 1 million Direct Loan defaults in 2016 alone. Student loan default can damage a borrower’s
credit record and result in garnished wages, tax refunds and Social Security income, but is easily
avoidable if borrowers enroll in an IDR plan. IDR plans cap monthly student loan payments at 10 to 15
percent of the borrower’s disposable income and forgive any remaining balance after 10 to 25 years
depending on whether the borrower works in the public sector. In its 2015 Life Delayed Report, ASA
found that student loan debt can hold borrowers back from buying homes, cars and other consumer
goods that fuel our economy.
Using its Salt® financial education platform, the ASA Student Debt Challenge campaign garnered a total
of 3,858,394 impressions through a combination of social media, consumer newsletters, a dedicated
web landing page, direct emails, and in person events from September 2016 through March 2017.
Additionally, 17 of ASA’s higher education Salt partners joined in the challenge at ASA’s request. Each
month of the campaign, Salt college or university partners who took the pledge were entered into a
drawing to win a $1,000 Salt scholarship to be given to a deserving student of their choice. The winners
were Alverno College, the University of West Florida, Eastern Washington University, Fashion Institute
of Technology, Columbia College Chicago, and the University of Nevada-Reno.
“This particular campaign may have ended, but our important work of educating and informing
borrowers on all their repayment options will continue,” said Mayotte. “Borrowers deserve to know that
an IDR plan is often a better long-term solution than a quick fix deferment or forbearance, which can
pile on additional interest charges.”
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1600
Boston, MA 02114
800.999.9080
www.asa.org
As this phase of ASA’s Student Debt Challenge comes to a close, the organization recently announced
the launch of #10YearsZeroDebt a national awareness and education campaign to promote Public
Service Loan Forgiveness. For more information, visit asa.org/pslf.
About American Student Assistance
American Student Assistance (asa.org) is a private nonprofit dedicated to eliminating finance as a barrier
to education and the dreams education enables. ASA today combines its 60 years of experience,
knowledge and best practices into its College Planning Services, Center for Consumer Advocacy and
Salt® (saltmoney.org), a multidimensional program that teaches education consumers how to make
better decisions about financing higher education and repaying student loans. Today Salt is adopted by
more than 300 higher education institutions, nonprofits, and corporations nationwide to reach more
than 4 million education consumers.
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Contact:
Allesandra Lanza
American Student Assistance
[email protected]
617-728-4631
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and corresponding logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of American Student Assistance.