In 2022, ERN CT conducted research finding that 100% of Connecticut four-year colleges engage in the practice of withholding college transcripts from students with unpaid debt.
This punitive approach to debt collections is both unfair—preventing students from claiming credits they've already earned—and discriminatory— disproportionately targeting low-income students.
In October 2022, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also explicitly defined this practice as "abusive," finding that it takes advantage of a consumer who cannot protect his or her own interests. It directed institutional lenders to cease the practice.
Passed last night, Public Act 23-14 officially prohibits Connecticut institutions of higher education from withholding a students' transcript from a prospective employer due to unpaid student debt.