The CFPB has indicated on its website that it is reanalyzing sample loan level data that was the basis for various results contained in the CFPB’s report to Congress on private student loans issued in July.
According to the “research note” that now accompanies the report, the CFPB was informed by the lenders who provided the sample lender loan level data that the manner in which the CFPB analyzed certain data could produce incomplete results unless supplemented by other fields in the dataset. Important items affected include the percentage of school channel loans as compared to “direct to consumer” loans (figure 6), borrowing as a percentage of tuition (figure 7) and the proportion of loans with co-borrowers or co-signers (figure 13). After it reanalyzes the sample lender loan level data based on the lenders’ advice and determines the impact of the additional analysis, the CFPB plans to clarify its analysis in a supplemental publication that it expects to issue by the end of August.
We appreciate the CFPB’s willingness to acknowledge that its initial analysis may have been flawed and will be interested in seeing the results of its reanalysis.