Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies during a House Appropriations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
'Good First Step' as DeVos Forced to Cancel $150M in Student Loan Debt for Thousands Scammed by For-Profit Schools
"It's disappointing that it took a court order to get Secretary DeVos to begin providing debt relief to students left in the lurch by predatory for-profit colleges."
After a federal judge struck down billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' attempt to gut protections for students scammed by for-profit colleges, the Department of Education announced on Thursday that--because of the court mandate--it is canceling $150 million in student loan debt for around 15,000 defrauded borrowers.
"The Department of Education illegally delayed implementation of the 2016 borrower defense rule, but because our clients in Bauer v. DeVos were willing to fight back, 15,000 students are finally getting the relief they are owed," said Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represented the students leading the legal fight against DeVos.
While celebrating the Education Department's cancellation of $150 million in student loan debt as a "good first step" in a statement on Thursday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)--top Democrat on the Senate Education Committee--added that "it's not good enough."
"It's disappointing that it took a court order to get Secretary DeVos to begin providing debt relief to students left in the lurch by predatory for-profit colleges, but I am pleased the department has finally started implementing [the borrower defense] rule and that some of the borrowers who attended schools like Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech are finally getting their loans cancelled," Murray said.
"It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."
--Adam Pulver, Public Citizen Litigation Group
Murray went on to demand that DeVos "abandon her attempts to rewrite the borrower defense rule to let for-profit colleges off the hook and instead fully implement the current rule and provide relief to more than 100,000 borrowers who were cheated out of their education and savings."
According to Politico, around "half of the borrowers who will now receive loan discharges attended campuses owned by Corinthian Colleges, the chain of for-profit colleges that went bankrupt in 2015. The remaining students attended other schools that closed sometime between Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 4, 2018."
DeVos' effort to delay and rewrite the Obama-era borrower defense rule--which was designed to provide debt relief to students who were misled or defrauded by for-profit colleges--sparked a flood of condemnation and lawsuits from students, consumer advocacy groups, members of Congress, and state attorneys general.
In September, a federal court delivered a "crushing blow" to DeVos' agenda by ruling that the billionaire education secretary's attempt to deny relief to students scammed by for-profit colleges was "procedurally invalid" and "unlawful."
Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group, concluded: "It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
After a federal judge struck down billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' attempt to gut protections for students scammed by for-profit colleges, the Department of Education announced on Thursday that--because of the court mandate--it is canceling $150 million in student loan debt for around 15,000 defrauded borrowers.
"The Department of Education illegally delayed implementation of the 2016 borrower defense rule, but because our clients in Bauer v. DeVos were willing to fight back, 15,000 students are finally getting the relief they are owed," said Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represented the students leading the legal fight against DeVos.
While celebrating the Education Department's cancellation of $150 million in student loan debt as a "good first step" in a statement on Thursday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)--top Democrat on the Senate Education Committee--added that "it's not good enough."
"It's disappointing that it took a court order to get Secretary DeVos to begin providing debt relief to students left in the lurch by predatory for-profit colleges, but I am pleased the department has finally started implementing [the borrower defense] rule and that some of the borrowers who attended schools like Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech are finally getting their loans cancelled," Murray said.
"It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."
--Adam Pulver, Public Citizen Litigation Group
Murray went on to demand that DeVos "abandon her attempts to rewrite the borrower defense rule to let for-profit colleges off the hook and instead fully implement the current rule and provide relief to more than 100,000 borrowers who were cheated out of their education and savings."
According to Politico, around "half of the borrowers who will now receive loan discharges attended campuses owned by Corinthian Colleges, the chain of for-profit colleges that went bankrupt in 2015. The remaining students attended other schools that closed sometime between Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 4, 2018."
DeVos' effort to delay and rewrite the Obama-era borrower defense rule--which was designed to provide debt relief to students who were misled or defrauded by for-profit colleges--sparked a flood of condemnation and lawsuits from students, consumer advocacy groups, members of Congress, and state attorneys general.
In September, a federal court delivered a "crushing blow" to DeVos' agenda by ruling that the billionaire education secretary's attempt to deny relief to students scammed by for-profit colleges was "procedurally invalid" and "unlawful."
Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group, concluded: "It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."
After a federal judge struck down billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' attempt to gut protections for students scammed by for-profit colleges, the Department of Education announced on Thursday that--because of the court mandate--it is canceling $150 million in student loan debt for around 15,000 defrauded borrowers.
"The Department of Education illegally delayed implementation of the 2016 borrower defense rule, but because our clients in Bauer v. DeVos were willing to fight back, 15,000 students are finally getting the relief they are owed," said Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represented the students leading the legal fight against DeVos.
While celebrating the Education Department's cancellation of $150 million in student loan debt as a "good first step" in a statement on Thursday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)--top Democrat on the Senate Education Committee--added that "it's not good enough."
"It's disappointing that it took a court order to get Secretary DeVos to begin providing debt relief to students left in the lurch by predatory for-profit colleges, but I am pleased the department has finally started implementing [the borrower defense] rule and that some of the borrowers who attended schools like Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech are finally getting their loans cancelled," Murray said.
"It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."
--Adam Pulver, Public Citizen Litigation Group
Murray went on to demand that DeVos "abandon her attempts to rewrite the borrower defense rule to let for-profit colleges off the hook and instead fully implement the current rule and provide relief to more than 100,000 borrowers who were cheated out of their education and savings."
According to Politico, around "half of the borrowers who will now receive loan discharges attended campuses owned by Corinthian Colleges, the chain of for-profit colleges that went bankrupt in 2015. The remaining students attended other schools that closed sometime between Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 4, 2018."
DeVos' effort to delay and rewrite the Obama-era borrower defense rule--which was designed to provide debt relief to students who were misled or defrauded by for-profit colleges--sparked a flood of condemnation and lawsuits from students, consumer advocacy groups, members of Congress, and state attorneys general.
In September, a federal court delivered a "crushing blow" to DeVos' agenda by ruling that the billionaire education secretary's attempt to deny relief to students scammed by for-profit colleges was "procedurally invalid" and "unlawful."
Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group, concluded: "It should not have taken litigation to force the department to do its job to protect students."