Federal Agency Rules Against Withholding Transcripts for Loan Payment

(From Hechinger Report) Colleges that lend directly to their students cannot later refuse to release a student’s transcript as a way of forcing them to make loan payments, the Consumer Financial Protection Board said on Thursday, calling the practice “abusive” and a violation of federal law. While the bureau did not examine the practice of transcript withholding for overdue tuition and fees, which has been outlawed in several states, a bureau official did not rule out the possibility that the practice writ large could run afoul of the law. As transcript withholding becomes a hotter issue in state legislatures, the Consumer Financial Protection Board's ruling could have wider implications.