Even though a court ordered the Department of Education to discharge — otherwise known as forgive — student loans taken out by people who attended for-profit colleges that were later shuttered, the agency has been slow to comply.
And now, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos faces yet another lawsuit over the situation, highlighting her historically cozy relationship with these institutions.
The controversy in this case surrounds the Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule, instituted under the Obama administration. Students who attended schools that misled them or engaged in other forms of misconduct before closing down are eligible for loan forgiveness. If implemented as designed, the policy could wipe out $250 million in debt for 106,000 students who took out loans to finance educations that never materialized or didn’t come with the benefits they promised.
The problem is that DeVos is a fan of for-profit colleges in general, and she hasn’t moved to put this rule in practice. DeVos maintains that the current rule has too much leeway, and she claims to be developing another, better rule.
But the courts aren’t impressed. Last month, a judge ordered her to get a move on, calling the delays she created “arbitrary and capricious.” DeVos didn’t follow through, so now she’s being sued in an attempt to get her to comply with the court order.
The National Student Legal Defense Network brought the suit on behalf of the California-based Housing and Economic Rights Advocates. In a press release, NSLDN president Aaron Ament said: “The students we are trying to help have been doubly victimized – first by the for-profit colleges that deceived them, and now by the federal government that refuses to help.”
NSLDN says that borrowers deserve benefits — including discharge of these bad loans, reimbursement for payments made and clearing of their credit history…