I've seen this question come up before and so I'd like to see if anyone can give me the current conventional wisdom on this topic. The federal government bars state SOLs from applying to student loans when those loans are federally backed or guaranteed. Many of today's student loans though are completely private and are not backed by the government. These private loans, I believe, are subject to state SOLs unless the state itself has a provision removing it from the state SOL. The federal government has no such provision as far as I can tell.

Here is the federal statute dealing with SOLs and student loans. Check out the statute and see below for my analysis.

Title 20 of the United States Code, Chapter 28, Subchapter IV, Part F, Section 1091a. Statute of limitations, and State court judgments
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(a) In general
(1) It is the purpose of this subsection to ensure that obligations to repay loans and grant overpayments are enforced without regard to any Federal or State statutory, regulatory, or administrative limitation on the period within which debts may be enforced.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of statute, regulation, or administrative limitation, no limitation shall terminate the period within which suit may be filed, a judgment may be enforced, or an offset, garnishment, or other action initiated or taken by —
(A) an institution that receives funds under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42 that is seeking to collect a refund due from a student on a grant made, or work assistance awarded, under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42;

(B) a guaranty agency that has an agreement with the Secretary under section 1078 (c) of this title that is seeking the repayment of the amount due from a borrower on a loan made under part B of this subchapter after such guaranty agency reimburses the previous holder of the loan for its loss on account of the default of the borrower;

(C) an institution that has an agreement with the Secretary pursuant to section 1087c or 1087cc (a) of this title that is seeking the repayment of the amount due from a borrower on a loan made under part C or D of this subchapter after the default of the borrower on such loan; or

(D) the Secretary, the Attorney General, or the administrative head of another Federal agency, as the case may be, for payment of a refund due from a student on a grant made under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42, or for the repayment of the amount due from a borrower on a loan made under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42 that has been assigned to the Secretary under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42.


Those claiming that private student loans are exempt from SOLs look to 1091a2B for support. But examination of the bolded language suggests that this provision ONLY applies to loans made "under part B of this Subchapter." The language "this Subchapter" refers to the Subchapter of the law that Section 1091a lies within. That would be Title 20, Chapter 28, Subchapter IV. So "part B of this Subchapter" would refer to part B of Subchapter IV. What is part B of Subchapter IV? The Federal Family Education Loan Program, or FFELP.

So since 1091a2B ONLY applies to loans made under Title 20, Chapter 28, Subchapter IV, Part B, and since that is the section of Title 20 dealing with FFELP loans, that means that 1091a2B ONLY applies to FFELP loans, i.e., federal student loans, NOT private student loans.

Thus, private student loans ARE SUBJECT to state statutes of limitation unless there is some other provision excluding them.