Student Loans: Oversight of Servicemembers Interest Rate Cap Could Be Strengthened

SCRA helps servicemembers financially by capping interest rates on student loans during active duty. As of May 2016, about 1.3 million servicemembers were on active duty. The number of active duty servicemembers with student loans is unknown, as is the number eligible for the rate cap who may not have received it. GAO was asked to review implementation of the rate cap for servicemembers student loans.This report examines 1 the number of servicemembers who received the cap for student loans 2 challenges that servicemembers face in doing so, and 3 the extent to which federal agencies oversee implementation of the cap. GAO analyzed data from 2008 through 2015 from the 10 federal student loan servicers reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, policies, and training materials and interviewed representatives of the servicers and servicemember advocacy groups, and officials from DOD, Education, the CFPB and DOJ.