Biden administration targets junk fees on college students, student loan borrowers

The Biden administration announced Friday it is looking to take action against junk fees for college students and student loan borrowers.  

The White House said it is targeting four kinds of junk fees in its initiative: student loan origination ones, college banking junk fees, automatic charges for textbooks, and colleges keeping leftover money in a student’s meal plan.  

“Each year, students — including Federal student loan borrowers — incur billions in fees or additional unseen costs for unused meal account funds, using a college-sponsored credit card or banking account, paying for textbooks, or simply taking out a loan to pay for school,” the administration said in a statement.

“Additionally, students aren’t always provided clear and upfront opportunities to avoid fees for services they do not want. Obscured costs and misleading practices aren’t just frustrating — they cost millions of students and borrowers money,” it added.  

In the president’s 2025 budget proposal, he is asking Congress to end student loan origination fees, which can range from 1 percent to 4 percent for borrowers and add thousands of dollars to an individual’s debt.  

The Department of Education is also targeting college banking fees in the negotiated rulemaking process. Sometimes colleges will require students to use certain banks to access their financial aid, but some of these institutions have thrown on surprising and costly hidden fees.  

The department in the negotiated rulemaking process is also looking to end automatic billing for textbooks and would allow students to opt out and find a textbook at a more affordable price.  

And it is formally considering regulations for students to get refunds on their meal plans if they do not use the whole amount rather than the school keeping the leftover money.  

“The fees targeted in today’s announcement may be imposed multiple times during the college or graduate school experience,” the White House said.  

The administration added these actions would build on previous work by the president to prevent schools from withholding transcripts and making the cost of college more transparent.