Two Obama-era rules “designed to protect college students from predatory lending and dubious for-profit colleges” have been halted by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Why? Well, DeVos called them “overly burdensome and confusing.” The two rules were scheduled to go into effect on July 1, and were introduced last year in response to thousands of students complaining that they were “defrauded by for-profit colleges.” But what would the rules have done? How would they protect students?
Two Obama-era rules “designed to protect college students from predatory lending and dubious for-profit colleges” have been halted by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Why? Well, DeVos called them “overly burdensome and confusing.” The two rules were scheduled to go into effect on July 1, and were introduced last year in response to thousands of students complaining that they were “defrauded by for-profit colleges.” But what would the rules have done? How would they protect students?
For starters, one of the rules would require “for-profit colleges and certificate programs at non-profit colleges to show that the education their students receive leads to gainful employment.” This particular rule was “designed to ensure that graduates would be able to earn enough money to pay off their student loan debt.” Failure to meet the standards under the rule would result in federal aid being withheld from the school. The other rule, known as the Borrower Defense to Repayment rule, would clarify how “student borrowers who were defrauded or misled by their college can apply for loan forgiveness.” It would also create a “fast-track way for students to apply for forgiveness in the event their college closed.”
With so many students and graduates swimming in student loan debt, rules like these would offer much-needed relief to many who are struggling to get ahead in life. Studies have shown that student loan debt is preventing graduates from doing things like buying cars, buying homes, starting families, and other things once considered normal after graduating college. Instead, graduates are struggling to find jobs that pay enough just to make their minimum loan payments. So why, with so many students and graduates struggling just to get by, did DeVos decide to halt the new rules? Well, the Department of Education released a statement saying that it plans to “create committees to review and improve the rules.”
The new rules also have many critics who have argued that the rules would be “too burdensome for colleges.” In fact, a “group representing many for-profit colleges in California has sued the Department of Education seeking to block the borrower defense rule from going into effect.”
However, many proponents of the rules have “urged DeVos to keep the rules in place.” A recent letter signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray, Sherrod Brown and Dick Durbin read: “Delaying this important pathway to debt relief would harm thousands of students, many with crushing levels of student loan debt and few meaningful job prospects.”
According to the Department of Education, hearings on the rules will be held in July.
Sources:
Betsy DeVos freezes Obama-era rules meant to protect student borrowers
Betsy DeVos Halts Rule Intended To Help Defrauded College Students
Join the conversation!