Top congressional Democrats are putting pressure on President Joe Biden to void student loan debt for hundreds of thousands of borrowers who were defrauded by predatory schools before the president leaves office.
Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) held a press conference alongside a group of student loan activists on Wednesday calling on the Biden administration to act with urgency to issue debt relief to students who attended predatory schools or were harmed by school misconduct before the Trump administration takes over in January.
.@SenMarkey @DickDurbin @RepMaxineWaters are leading a letter to the Department of Education “demanding they deliver debt relief to the millions of borrowers who were defrauded by predatory schools.” pic.twitter.com/VSdSx29wot
— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) December 4, 2024
“We are here to demand that the Department of Education deliver on President Biden’s commitment to debt relief and process all outstanding borrower defense relief before President Trump slams the door shut on borrowers on Jan. 20,” Markey said, standing alongside students holding up signs showing how much student debt they currently owe.
“Borrowers who attended fraudulent schools and have struggled with debt for years or even decades cannot afford to wait any longer,” he added.
The three lawmakers sent a letter signed by over 70 members of Congress to the Department of Education, urging the Biden administration to make good on their prior commitment to issue relief to students “who attended institutions with documented histories of predatory practices; and processing any outstanding borrower defense applications.”
Department of Education Bor… by web-producers
The Biden Administration issued forgiveness for borrowers who attended collapsed for-profit institutions in 2022, including Corinthian Colleges, and ITT Technical Institutes, among several others. However, many borrowers who were approved for forgiveness are still waiting for relief. At least 145,000 former Corinthian students who were approved for a discharge still have not received student loan forgiveness, according to the Project on Predatory Student Lending.
The lawmakers want the administration to finish discharging the debt for those who have already been approved for student loan forgiveness in addition to expanding relief to others who were also defrauded by their schools.
The trio specifically urged the Education Department to issue forgiveness for “students who the Department has already committed to providing borrower defense debt relief.”
The lawmakers demanded the department utilize its authority under the Higher Education Act to forgive student loans for borrowers “who attended other institutions with documented histories of predatory practices” and process “any remaining applications for borrower defense discharge.”
Forgiving student loans associated with schools that the Department has already committed to providing borrower defense may be possible. However, the other requests may be a heavy lift after the program remains tied up in litigation after a federal court issued an injunction last year. According to the federal government’s student aid office, “the injunction is effective” until a final judgment in the case has been made.
“The Department will not adjudicate any borrower defense applications under the rule subject to the injunction unless and until the injunction is lifted,” the agency said, while still encouraging borrowers to apply for the borrower defense relief.
Biden’s largest effort at loan forgiveness was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2023, which ruled the sweeping forgiveness plan exceeded his legal authority.
“What can happen is this president steps up and says, ‘we’re going to clear the books to these students’ and give them a new opportunity in life. He can do it, we want him to do it,” Durbin said during the press conference. “We’re going to tell him it has to be done before he leaves office.”
Lawmakers believe that the incoming Trump administration will not make student loan forgiveness for borrowers defrauded by their schools a priority and may even take steps to undo initiatives Biden put into place to forgive student loan debt. Under Trump’s last term, the Department of Education put into place new regulations for the Borrower Defense to Repayment program that put into place new restrictions and increased the burden of proof for applicants.
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“These students were just trying to get an education and start their lives, but they ended up deeply in debt and without a useful degree to show for it,” Waters said.
“Ladies and gentleman, as I looked at the name tags on your clothing, I want you to know that I am shaken by the amounts that I see that you owe – $550,000 dollars, I am shocked by the amount of money you owe,” Waters said, speaking directly to the students who adorned name tags that displayed the debt they owe.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
