A Resource from Campus Access Partners
Federal and state law can affect postsecondary debt from the creation of an obligation through repayment, servicing, collection, credit reporting, forgiveness, bankruptcy, and tax treatment.
Which rules apply depends on what the obligation is, what is happening to it, who is acting, and which jurisdiction applies.
Start with the debt’s lifecycle, the federal framework governing the issue, or enacted state law and lending-licensing context.
Choose a path
Start with what is happening to the debt.
Move from origination and repayment through servicing, communications, delinquency, collection, credit reporting, forgiveness, bankruptcy, and the end of the obligation.
Follow the lifecycleGo directly to the federal framework that applies to the issue.
The federal resource covers the principal laws affecting postsecondary debt, including the Higher Education Act, TILA, ECOA, FDCPA, FCRA, EFTA, TCPA, SCRA, MLA, CFPA, GLBA, bankruptcy law, federal tax law, and other specialized frameworks.
Browse federal frameworksExplore enacted state laws addressing student loan servicing and oversight, transcript access and institutional debt, and principal broader lending-licensing regimes that may affect nonbank education-loan origination.
The state resource includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with maps, filters, concise jurisdiction summaries, institutional context, and links to official sources.
Explore state lawA practical starting point
Student debt does not have one universal legal identity. A Direct Loan, FFEL loan, Perkins Loan, private education loan, institutional loan, payment plan, and unpaid tuition balance can arise from the same educational experience while being governed by different laws.
The debt or credit category establishes the starting legal framework.
Know the DebtOrigination, repayment, servicing, electronic payment, credit reporting, collection, assignment, bankruptcy, and discharge can each introduce different legal rules.
Follow the Debt LifecycleThe same organization can act as a lender, creditor, servicer, furnisher, collector, holder, service provider, or another regulated actor at different points in the relationship.
Vocabulary and CoverageThe same obligation can accumulate legal layers without becoming a different type of debt each time another law applies.
Overlapping authority
Federal law does not create one universal rule for its relationship with state law.
Some federal statutes preserve stronger state protections. Others preempt inconsistent requirements or expressly displace state law on particular subjects. Federal bankruptcy, collection, banking, and student aid rules can also control particular consequences while state law continues to govern other aspects of the same obligation.
Federal and State Law TogetherScope at a glance
Federal law
The federal portion of StudentDebtLaws.com identifies the principal federal legal frameworks that materially affect postsecondary debt across the debt lifecycle.
Browse Federal LawState law
The state portion includes two targeted student debt-specific inventories and one narrow broader-lending overlay:
Licensing, registration, notification, ombudsman, borrower protection, and related oversight frameworks.
State laws addressing transcript access because of institutional debt and related institutional debt requirements.
Principal broader licensing, registration, or notification regimes relevant to nonbank education-loan origination.
Reference