Student loan giant Navient will cancel $1.7 billion in debts owed by approximately 66,000 borrowers as part of the settlement the company reached Thursday with a coalition of 39 states attorneys general.
One of the largest providers of student loan services, Navient in recent years had faced allegations of questionable practices. In 2019, an audit (pdf) by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General found that Navient representatives tended to place borrowers into long-term forbearances instead of offering them other more affordable income-driven repayment options.
