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]
betsy devos
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]
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]
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 Secretary Betsy DeVos Will Allow For-Profit Schools To Continue Offering Programs That Don’t Meet Standards
By 8.17.17
Earlier this year, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos revealed plans to “reset” the Gainful Employment rule meant to hold for-profit colleges more accountable for the education they provide students. Today, she continued tearing apart the rule, announcing the intention to allow colleges to continue enrolling students in programs that run afoul of the regulation. [More]
Lawmakers Call For Removal Of Education Dept. Civil Rights Chief After College Rape Claims
By 7.19.17
A week after the head of the Department of Education’s Civil Rights division publicly apologized for making an unsubstantiated and unsourced claim that nine in 10 sexual assault and harassment allegations are baseless and can be tied back to nothing more than too much drinking and bad breakups, lawmakers are calling for the her removal. [More]
Education Dept. Civil Rights Chief Sorry For Saying 90% Of College Rape Claims Are Result Of Bad Breakups
By 7.12.17
As Education Secretary Betsy DeVos moves forward with her plan to review the federal government’s policy regarding sexual assault and harassment on college campuses, the acting head of the Department’s Civil Rights division is now apologizing for making an unsubstantiated and unsourced claim that nine in ten of these assault allegations are baseless and can be tied back to nothing more than too much drinking and bad breakups. [More]
Dozens Of Organizations Come Out In Support Of Gainful Employment, Borrower Defense Rules
By 7.12.17
A week after two separate lawsuits were filed by 19 state attorneys general and a group representing students accusing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of breaking the law by delaying protections for student loan borrowers, a coalition of more than 50 consumer groups have stepped forward to join the opposition against a “reset” of regulations put in place to protect students at for-profit colleges. [More]
States Say Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Broke Law By Delaying Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 7.6.17
Following Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ decision to “reset” new regulations put in place to protect students at for-profit colleges, two separate lawsuits now accuse the Secretary of breaking federal law by running roughshod over the regulatory process when she delayed the so-called Borrower Defense rule, which would have made it easier for defrauded students to get out from under their student loan burdens. [More]
Betsy DeVos To Put $1.3 Trillion Student Aid Office In Hands Of Exec From For-Profit Student Loan Company
By 6.21.17
The top official at the federal Office of Financial Aid recently resigned after butting heads with new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her plan to make sweeping changes to federal student loan programs. Now DeVos has announced a replacement who is more likely to follow her lead: Dr. A. Wayne Johnson, the CEO of a private, for-profit student loan company. [More]
With DeVos Unwilling To Defend Rules, States Try To Protect Students Defrauded By For-Profit Colleges
By 6.14.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made it clear that she has no intention to defend regulations put in place to protect students at failed for-profit colleges. But a number of states are now attempting to step in to do the job the Department of Education won’t. [More]
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “Resets” Rules On For-Profit Colleges
By 6.14.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has announced plans to “reset” two regulations that were recently put in place to hold for-profit colleges more accountable and prevent students at these schools from being left with nothing but debt if their college collapses. [More]
Lawmakers Ask Education Secretary DeVos To Explain Delayed Loan Forgiveness For ITT, Corinthian Students
By 5.18.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Thousands of former students at bankrupt for-profit schools run by ITT, Corinthian Colleges, and others are still on the hook for millions of dollars in student loans, even though the Department of Education approved their claims for a refund. Now, lawmakers want Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to explain why. [More]
21 Attorneys General Call Out Education Secretary DeVos For Removing Student Loan Protections
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
In response to the decision by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to roll back protections for student loan borrowers, a coalition of state attorneys general are accusing DeVos of failing America’s students. [More]
Former Lobbyist, Son Of Student Loan Debt-Collector, Resigns From Dept. Of Education
By 3.22.17
In our recent story on the Trump administration’s decision to roll back protections for potentially millions of student loan borrowers, we also told you about new Department of Education advisor Taylor Hansen, a former lobbyist for the for-profit college industry whose father is the CEO of a student loan debt collection company that has been suing Taylor’s new employer since 2015 for the right to charge thousands of dollars in fees to people who are already having trouble paying back their loans. Now comes news that Hansen’s brief life as a federal employee has come to an end. [More]
Trump Administration Eases Restriction On Student Loan Debt Collectors
By 3.17.17
The Department of Education has told federal student loan debt collectors that they are to ignore previous guidance that restricted the fees they could charge to borrowers who defaulted on their loans — even if they immediately enter into repayment programs. [More]
Cosmetology Schools Don’t Want To Be Held Accountable For Students’ Success
By 2.10.17 — Updated: 2.12.17
The Gainful Employment Rule, which requires that for-profit educators demonstrate that their graduates can pay their bills, has thus far weathered industry’s attempts to gut the rule. Now we’ll see if new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will defend this rule against a legal challenge brought by a beauty school trade group. [More]
