Education Secretary and champion of for-profit colleges Betsy DeVos is once again siding with this controversial industry and against students who were defrauded by schools that tricked them into paying top dollar for a bottom-dollar education. [More]
Education
Borrowers In Student Loan Forgiveness Program Shocked To Learn Loans Won’t Be Forgiven
By 10.27.17
This month is the first in which student loan borrowers enrolled in the Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program were expecting to see their student loan tab cleared. But that’s not happening for some borrowers after learning they were never actually enrolled in the programs, despite assurances from the companies servicing their debts. [More]
25 States Urge Betsy DeVos To Not Let Student Loan Companies Sidestep The Law
By 10.24.17
Since Betsy DeVos took over as Secretary, the Department of Education has been — to put it mildly — generous to the student loan industry. Through DeVos, the Trump administration has stopped cooperating with federal financial regulators to rein in unscrupulous loan servicers, and announced its plan to put all federal student loan accounts into the hands of a single company. But several states are letting it be known that they will not go easy on student lenders and servicers, even if they ask nicely. [More]
Betsy DeVos Delays Student Loan ‘Borrower Defense’ Rule Until At Least 2019
By 10.23.17
Despite the pleas — and legal actions — of lawmakers, consumer advocates, and students, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos quietly announced Friday that the Department of Education will further delay, by nearly two years, rules intended to prevent students at unscrupulous schools from being left with nothing but debt if their college collapses. [More]
States Accuse Betsy DeVos Of Failing To Protect Students From Sketchy For-Profit Schools
By 10.17.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made no effort to hide her support for the for-profit education industry, going so far as to hit “reset” on rules intended to protect students from schools that provide minimal education at a maximum cost. Now, a coalition of 18 state attorneys general are suing DeVos and the Dept. of Education, alleging they failed to hold these schools accountable. [More]
Bank-Backed Congressman Praises Betsy DeVos For Cutting Ties With Consumer Protection Agency
By 10.16.17
Congressman Jeb Hensarling of Texas, whose campaign has received more than $8 million from the financial sector since 2010, has long endeavored to undercut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that regulates many of the businesses that keep Hensarling’s election campaigns flush with contributions. So it’s of little surprise that the lawmaker is thrilled at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ recent decision to stop working with the CFPB on student loans — even though the Bureau has returned hundreds of millions of dollars to screwed-over student borrowers. [More]
Student Loan Debt Relief Operations Allegedly Bilked $95M From Borrowers
By 10.13.17
The federal government and 11 states have joined together to accuse 30 purported debt relief operations of using deception and false promises to swindle more than $95 million from student loan borrowers. [More]
Congress, Trump Administration May Get Rid Of Billions In Student Aid
By 10.10.17
The Federal Pell Grant Program provides billions of dollars in financial aid to college students in need of assistance, but these grants — and other aid — could disappear or be made worthless if proposals by Congress and the Trump administration are enacted. [More]
Student Loan Defaults Increase For First Time In Five Years; 8.5M Borrowers Now In Default
By 9.28.17
For the first time in half a decade, the rate of education loan defaults among recent college students has risen, highlighting the struggle many recent graduates face when it comes to paying their educational debts. [More]
States Ask Betsy DeVos To Not Drop Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 9.26.17
Earlier this month, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos declared that the Department of Education would no longer work with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to root out bad players in the student loan servicing arena. While the CFPB fired back, accusing DeVos of misunderstanding just what the Bureau does, a coalition of state attorneys general are now joining the choir, claiming the decision to end the agencies’ agreements undermine protections for student borrowers. [More]
Hey Kids, Now Your Parents Have to Take Driver’s Ed, Too
By 9.20.17
The driver’s license: Perhaps nothing represents teen freedom more than that document saying you can go wherever you want without having your parents or someone else drive you there. But times have changed from the days when driving autonomy was granted to any 16-year-old who could pass the DMV’s tests. Now, some states are requiring parents to take a form of driver’s education alongside their teens. [More]
Student Lender, Debt Collector To Refund More Than $3.5M To Borrowers
By 9.18.17 — Updated: 9.19.17
Two months after private student loan lender National Collegiate Student Loan Trust came under scrutiny amid reports that the company, along with its debt collector TransWorld, filed illegal student loan debt collection lawsuits against defaulted borrowers without citing proper or correct paperwork, federal regulators have ordered the companies to pay $21.6 million in refunds and penalties, and revise their collection practices. [More]
Disgraced College Accreditor Asks Betsy DeVos For Second Chance
By 9.15.17
Last year, the Department of Education revoked federal recognition for the accrediting body that ignored red flags at failed for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges and allowed billions in federal aid dollars to schools under investigation. Now, Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is back, asking new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for another chance. [More]
CFPB Asks Education Secretary DeVos To Not Give Up On Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 9.8.17
A week after Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos essentially broke up with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ending the agencies’ agreements to work together to root out bad players in the student loans servicing arena, the CFPB is firing back, accusing DeVos of misunderstanding just what the Bureau does. [More]
Betsy DeVos Refuses To Work With Consumer Protection Agency On Student Loans
By 9.5.17
The Department of Education will no longer work with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to root out bad players in the student loan servicing arena. That’s according to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who recently notified the CFPB that her department is ending years of formal cooperation combating student loan fraud. [More]
Education Dept. Hires Exec From Scandalized For-Profit School To Run Enforcement Division
By 8.30.17
Dedicated and effective government employees can come from many prior walks of life, it’s true; the path through any career can be winding and complex. But choosing someone with major ties to a for-profit college that engaged in questionable behaviors to head up a division tasked with investigating for-profit colleges that engage in questionable behaviors seems like a bad sign. [More]
Amazon Really Wants Echo Devices In The Hands (And Dorm Rooms) Of College Students
By 8.29.17
If you want future developers of technology to create new things for your product, try giving it to engineering students for free. Amazon is experimenting with that at one college, giving away an Echo Dot (list price $49.99) to every student in a new dorm at Arizona State University. [More]
Major Student Loan Company Accused Of Overcharging, Delaying Forgiveness For Some Borrowers
By 8.23.17
A student loan servicing company that handles accounts for millions of borrowers nationwide now stands accused of preying on people in a federal program that forgives the loans of borrowers who work in public service and education jobs. [More]
