THE ARCHIVES
This report is informed by a joint investigation conducted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC). This report is the latest in a series of publications examining the administration of the PSLF program by the government and its contractors since the program’s inception, in an effort to expose the widespread mismanagement and abuse that has denied or delayed millions of public service workers access to this critical protection.
Emails Between Trade Associations and the Missouri Attorney General About the Debt Cancellation Lawsuit
Documents received in response to SBPC’s October 3, 2022, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. SBPC requested any documents, communications, or records shared between MOHELA and the Education Finance Council, Student Loan Servicing Alliance, National Council of Higher Education Resources, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Job Creators Network, and the Missouri Attorney General’s office between August 24 and October 3, 2022. The emails document MOHELA and other industry trade groups’ response to news of the filing of Nebraska v. Biden—the lawsuit seeking to invalidate President Biden’s debt relief plan.
Internal MOHELA Emails about the Debt Cancellation Lawsuit
Documents received in response to SBPC’s October 19, 2022, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. SBPC requested any documents, communications, or records shared internally between MOHELA staff, between September 27 and October 19, 2022. The emails document MOHELA’s employees' thoughts and reactions regarding the lawsuit news, including one email asking “Are we the bad guys?”
MOHELA’s Return to Repayment Documents and Communications
Documents received in response to SBPC’s July 17, 2023, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. SBPC requested any documents, communications, or records about MOHELA’s potential plans and preparations for the return to repayment, and any requests or guidance shared between ED and MOHELA about the return to repayment. The produced documents include MOHELA’s July 11, 2023, return to repayment communications playbook, details on MOHELA’s “call deflection” scheme, and comments from MOHELA’s staff expressing concerns about the scheme.
Emails Between MOHELA and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office
Documents received in response to SBPC’s October 3, 2022, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. SBPC requested anything shared between MOHELA and the Missouri Attorney General’s office between August 24 and October 3, 2022. The produced documents include Change Request forms, spreadsheets, and emails—all about President Biden’s debt relief plan. It also contains two Sunshine Law Requests the MO AGO submitted to MOHELA, and MOHELA’s subsequent responses.
MOHELA’s Contracts with the Department of Education and Contract Modifications
Documents received in response to SBPC’s October 3, 2022, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. This includes ED’s base contract with MOHELA covering 2011 through 2019, the newer NextGen BPO base contract between ED and MOHELA that became effective June 2020, and six contract modifications pertaining to MOHELA’s management of PSLF and TEACH. One of the PSLF contract modifications documents the amount MOHELA gets paid per processed PSLF form.
MOHELA’s PSLF Denials Spreadsheet
Document received in response to SBPC’s April 11, 2023, Sunshine Law Request to MOHELA. SBPC requested all reports, records, or documents related to PSLF EIN denials that MOHELA has produced for ED. MOHELA provided a spreadsheet, in which a crucial column (reason for denial) was left blank. When SBPC inquired about the missing information, MOHELA claimed the only information it redacted was Personal Identifiable Information. The denial codes can not be used to identify borrowers.
MOHELA’s October 2023 Investor Presentation
MOHELA’s presentation for its investors that documents the meteoric growth of its “assets owned & serviced” (slide 18), particularly its federal servicing, since taking over the PSLF portfolio in 2022. Presentation was downloaded from https://www.mohela.com/DL/common/publicInfo/investorInformation.aspx?idx=2666. The downloaded file's extension must be changed to .pptx to view.
MOHELA’s October 2023 Return to Repayment Communications Playbook
Document contains MOHELA’s strategy for seventeen months of the return to repayment, including ten “phases” of a “call deflection” scheme to turn borrowers away from call centers and MOHELA employees and towards “self-service” and incomplete online resources.