Students in limbo for fraud cases

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of former students who say they were swindled by for-profit colleges are being left in limbo as the Trump administration delays action on requests for loan forgiveness, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The Education Department is sitting on 65,000 unapproved claims as it rewrites Obama-era rules that sought to better protect students. The industry had sought the rewrite.

The for-profit colleges have found allies in the new administration and President Donald Trump, who earlier this year paid $25 million to settle charges his Trump University misled customers. And it’s yet another example of the administration hiring officials to oversee the industries where they had worked previously.

In August, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos picked Julian Schmoke Jr., a former associate dean at DeVry University, as head of the department’s enforcement unit. More than 2,000 requests for loan forgiveness are pending from DeVry students.

Department spokeswoman Liz Hill said the agency is working to streamline the process and resolve the claims as quickly as possible.

“Unfortunately, the Obama administration left behind thousands of claims,” she said.

Hill said students with claims pending are not required to make payments on their loans.