Senator Murray Applauds Implementation of New Protection for Defrauded Students Despite Attempted Delay From Secretary DeVos

Murray: “Now it’s up to Secretary DeVos to do the right thing and immediately begin discharging outstanding loans in full from students who were cheated, defrauded, or left in the lurch, and to stop putting lobbyists and shady for-profit colleges ahead of the students and borrowers she is supposed to work for.”

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to the implementation of a new regulation on borrower defense to repayment which went into effect today after a federal judge struck down both the Trump Administration’s and for-profit colleges’ attempts to delay the rule.

“Building on the ruling that Secretary DeVos’ actions to delay relief to students and borrowers were illegal, the same federal court has now cleared the path for those who have been cheated or defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges to get the relief they’re entitled to.

“Now it’s up to Secretary DeVos to do the right thing and immediately begin discharging outstanding loans in full from students who were cheated, defrauded, or left in the lurch, and to stop putting lobbyists and shady for-profit colleges ahead of the students and borrowers she is supposed to work for.

“As the court made clear, the Department must act swiftly to discharge the loans of students from closed schools like Corinthian Colleges, provide full relief to more than 100,000 borrowers who have been waiting for an answer, and ban predatory college behavior like forced arbitration.”

Today’s ruling marks a victory against a series of stall tactics by Secretary DeVos to delay providing relief to borrowers that they are owed under law. The Department halted the processing of claims from tens of thousands of borrowers, repeatedly delayed the 2016 “borrower defense” rule from going into effect, tried to provide “partial relief” to borrowers which was later blocked by a federal court, and abandoned the rules altogether for a proposal that would effectively end debt relief to cheated and defrauded students. Following the collapse of for-profit giants Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, thousands of students have been left with a useless education and massive amounts of debt. Recently-released data secured by Ranking Member Murray and Senator Durbin forced the Trump Administration to publicly reveal that more than 100,000 students still await relief. These students and tens of thousands more who were impacted by closed schools now have a chance to get the help they deserve if Secretary DeVos swiftly implements the court’s decision.

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