Public Radio East serves Eastern North Carolina by providing news, fine arts, and informational programming that challenges, stimulates, educates, and entertains an intellectually curious audience.

© 2026 Public Radio East

Public Radio East
800 College Court
New Bern, NC 28562

EIN 56-1802728
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
US

Episode 869: The Student Loan Whistleblower

NPR | By Sarah Gonzalez,
Cory Turner, Sarah Gonzalez
Published October 12, 2018 at 7:57 PM EDT
Cameron Pollack
/
NPR

As the student loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Seth Frotman watched as the Department of Education became one of the biggest banks in the country. It has lent out more than a trillion dollars to student borrowers. The problem is, the Department of Education wasn't really built to be a bank.

So, the department called in some backup to help with the paperwork. Now, student loan servicers help the Education Department deal with borrowers.

And normally the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulates banks, and servicers, and loans. But there's a new director in town, and he doesn't seem interested in regulating much. And that made Seth Frotman mad enough to quit, and tell all.

Music: "Chain Reaction," "Echoes In The Night" and "Bout That Live."

Find us: Twitter/ Facebook / Instagram

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts and NPR One.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

US
Sarah Gonzalez
Sarah Gonzalez is the multimedia education reporter for WLRN's StateImpact Florida project. She comes from NPR in D.C. where she was a national desk reporter, web and show producer as an NPR Kroc Fellow. The San Diego native has worked as a reporter and producer for KPBS in San Diego and KALW in San Francisco, covering under-reported issues like youth violence, food insecurity and public education. Her work has been awarded an SPJ Sigma Delta Chi and regional Edward R. Murrow awards. She graduated from Mills College in 2009 with a bachelorâ
See stories by Sarah Gonzalez
Cory Turner
Cory Turner edits and reports for the NPR Ed team.
See stories by Cory Turner
Sarah Gonzalez
Sarah Gonzalez is a co-host and reporter with Planet Money, NPR's award-winning podcast that finds creative, entertaining ways to make sense of the big, complicated forces that move our economy.