Borrowers win vs. predators
Student borrowers prevailed yesterday when a judge refused a request from Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education to block the borrower defense rule, which aims to protect borrowers from predatory colleges and universities.
Attorney General Maura Healey, one of twenty attorneys general across the country who filed on behalf of students, said yesterday in a release, “This is a major victory for families across the country cheated by predatory for-profit schools. With the Borrower Defense Rule in place, Betsy DeVos must no longer delay giving students the debt relief they deserve.”
“We took her to court and won,” Healey said in a tweet.
Students can use Borrower Defense to have their loans discharged if their school was shut down or committed fraud. The rule became effective at noon yesterday after a series of delays taken by the Department of Education.
Meaghan Bauer, the named plaintiff in the case Bauer v. DeVos, is a Massachusetts resident who attended the for-profit school, New England Institute of Art.
“I hope these rulings remind the Department of Education of its obligation to care for its citizens who are the future of this country, and that it will start to act in the interest of students instead of focusing on lining the pockets of forprofit institutions,” Bauer said in a statement.
The Borrower Defense rule also includes protections that prohibit schools from receiving federal funds from relying on forced arbitration clauses and banning class-action lawsuits.