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]
department of education
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]
States To Education Secretary DeVos: Stop Delaying Loan Forgiveness For Students Deceived By Corinthian Colleges
By 6.5.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Two months after the Attorneys General from dozens of states sent letters to former students of defunct for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges reminding them to apply for federal student loan discharges, a number of those same state officials are calling on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to stop delaying loan forgiveness. [More]
For-Profit Colleges Sue To Stop Rule That Protects Students Of Failed Schools
By 5.25.17
Federal regulations that aim to protect and refund student loan borrowers defrauded by their schools could end before they even go into place, thanks to a lawsuit filed by the for-profit college industry. [More]
Head Of $1.3 Trillion Federal Student Aid Office Resigns Amid Tension With Betsy DeVos
By 5.25.17
New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is making sweeping changes to federal student aid programs, like taking away protections from borrowers and putting all loan servicing in the hands of one private firm. Now the top official at the Office of Financial Aid has resigned after reportedly butting heads with DeVos and warning his colleagues concerns with the Department’s management. [More]
DeVos Education Budget Could Make It Harder To Obtain, Repay Student Loans
By 5.23.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Days after the Department of Education revealed it would give all student loan accounts to one servicing company and strip away more protections for federal student loan borrowers, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos outlined the Department’s proposed budget, which goes even further by eliminating or completely overhauling programs intended to make student loans more accessible and easier to repay. [More]
Education Secretary DeVos To Give All Student Loan Accounts To One Company; Strip Away More Protections
By 5.22.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made another sweeping change to the student loan system that consumer advocates claim favors student loan collectors over the American people repaying those loans. [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]
Trump Administration Looking To End Student Loan Forgiveness Program
By 5.18.17
This October will mark the first time that student loan borrowers who have worked for 10 years with the government or a qualifying non-profit will be eligible to have their debts wiped clean. It may also be the last time, as the Trump administration is reportedly targeting this and other Department of Education repayment programs for elimination.
[More]
The System To Collect Defaulted Student Loans Is No Longer Functioning
By 5.5.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Consumers who expected their student loan payments to be deducted from their bank accounts this month have reportedly found the funds untouched, and their calls to the companies unanswered thanks to a Department of Education’s order prohibiting the debt collection companies from working on default accounts in response to two lawsuits against the agency.
People Paying Back Student Loans Could Also Be Hurt By Outage Of FAFSA Tool
By 5.3.17
A Department of Education decision take down an online tool that helped student loan applicants file for aid isn’t just making things difficult on students. It’s also a problem for those who are repaying their student loans through a federal payment plan. [More]
Purdue University Buys For-Profit Kaplan University, But Is It A Good Idea?
By 4.28.17
On the surface, Purdue University and Kaplan University don’t have a lot in common: One is a public university from Indiana and the other is a for-profit chain mostly offering online courses. But now they have one rather large thing in common: ownership. Purdue has purchased Kaplan — for a dollar. [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]
Not Too Late To Get Federal Loan Forgiveness, States Remind Corinthian Students
By 4.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Earlier this week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded relatively new federal guidelines intended to make the student loan repayment process more accurate and transparent. With the possibility that other federal student loan protections could face the same fate, the Attorneys General from dozens of states are reminding former students of defunct for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges to apply for federal student loan discharges. [More]
Education Secretary DeVos Withdraws Protections For Student Loan Borrowers
By 4.11.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Relatively new federal guidelines intended to to make the student loan repayment process more accurate and transparent have all been rescinded today by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — a move that consumer advocates says removes accountability for debt collectors and loan servicers. [More]
When Education Dept. Said Your Student Loan Would Be Forgiven, It May Not Have Meant It
By 3.31.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
One way to erase federal student loan debt is to work for the government or at a non-profit for 10 years. However, thousands of people who received notices from the Department of Education that their federal student loans were going to be forgiven through this program may still be on the hook for this debt, as the Department now says these notices are not binding. [More]
Student Loan Debt Collectors Not Eager To Charge Fees Reinstated By Trump Administration
By 3.30.17
The Department of Education recently advised companies that collect debt on billions of dollars in outstanding federal student loans that they can once again charge a large penalty fee to defaulted borrowers. However, the collectors — even one that is currently suing the government for the right to charge this fee — now say they will not automatically add thousands of dollars in additional debt to loans in default. [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]
