I have a nice, simple issue that would be great for a class action if anyone is interested in pursuing it. I have noticed that frequently, the funds from the student loan company arrive to a university several weeks or even months before they actually become disbursed and credited to the students' account. Also, when the loan includes living expenses, those checks are usually cut well after the time they arrive to the school.

The problem with this is that the borrower begins paying interest on the student loan the moment it is sent to the university, but they don't receive any benefit and are not able to use the money they are paying for. Further, the universities actually benefit from these deposits each semester and certainly earn large amounts of interest for themselves.

When I was in law school I would usually get a check for about $7,000 each semester for my living expenses and that check was given to me about 2 or 3 weeks after they received it. My wife is now at the Fletcher School at Tufts and they are much worse - sometimes keeping her living expense check up to a month and a half after receipt. Both schools made up a lot of excuses about how they cut checks only on certain days and that they have to wait until the add drop period is over. When I made written demands to both schools for them to pay us the interest we paid while they kept the money, they just laughed at us. I thought about small claims, but I just don't have the time to litigate this for a couple hundred dollars.

This is probably only $100 or $200 each semester in interest that we pay, but over the course of a 4 year degree plus grad school, this could really add up. On its own it is not enough for one person to litigate against the schools and student loan companies, but as a class there would be much more leverage.

Further, a class action of this type would help expose another way in which the lenders and schools have formed a symbiotic relationship to benefit at the borrower's expense. I think it would be a very nice follow up to the recent articles about corruption in the financial aid offices.

I would be happy to put in some research time if a lawyer wanted to take the lead on this issue.

Jim