Preston Cooper at AEI recently published an analysis of the latest federal student loan data, and the results were sobering: 5.5 million borrowers in default, another 3.7 million more than 270 days late on their payments and 2.7 million in the early stages of delinquency.

Buried in the SAVE plan settlement is a provision that could place major restrictions on the Education Department's ability to enact new student loan forgiveness.