Protect Borrowers

U.S. left-of-center, consumer advocacy

Background

The organization was founded in 2018 as the Student Borrower Protection Center by Seth Frotman, who had resigned as the CFPB's student loan ombudsman during Trump's first term citing interference with the bureau's mission, along with former CFPB colleagues Mike Pierce and Bonnie Latreille. It launched with backing from the Sandler Foundation and operates as a fiscally sponsored project of the Shared Ascent Fund, meaning it does not hold its own 501(c)(3) status independently. Originally focused on student debt, it expanded its scope to cover a range of consumer lending issues — including rent-now-pay-later products and predatory lending — and rebranded as Protect Borrowers to reflect that broader mandate. InfluenceWatch classifies it as a left-of-center policy organization, and as of late 2024 it was listed as a member of the Democracy 2025 coalition, a network of progressive advocacy groups. Its publications function primarily as advocacy documents and press materials rather than independent journalism, though its reports are routinely cited by mainstream outlets such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Since the start of Trump's second term in January 2025, the organization has been sharply critical of the administration's dismantling of CFPB enforcement, the restart of wage garnishment for student loan defaulters, and the unwinding of income-driven repayment plans.

Sources

1. Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) — InfluenceWatch
2. Student Borrower Protection Center — Wikipedia
3. About Us — Protect Borrowers
4. What We Do — Protect Borrowers
5. New Analysis Finds That a Student Loan Borrower Defaulted Every Nine Seconds in 2025 — Protect Borrowers
6. Muck Rack — Student Borrower Protection Center media outlet profile
7. Shared Ascent Fund 990 (2021)

Profile compiled 2026-08-24; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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