Politico has reported that Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s former student loan ombudsman, has joined the Education Department in a senior leadership position focused on protecting student borrowers.  Politico also reported that in his new position Mr. Chopra will look at how to judge the financial solvency of colleges, examine state level consumer protections for borrowers, seek ways to make data more publicly available, and work on improving loan protections for military members.

Mr. Chopra left the CFPB in June 2015 to join the Center for American Progress, where he served as a senior fellow.  While at the CFPB, Mr. Chopra was highly critical of private student loan lenders and servicers.  In his new role, he is likely to be an advocate for more aggressive Education Department oversight of federal student loan holders and servicers as well as higher education institutions.  He is also likely to take an active role in the Education Department’s development of a federal student loan complaint system.