Statement on Department of Education’s Cancellation of $150 Million in Debt from Closed For-Profit Colleges

The following is a statement from Toby Merrill, Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, on the Department of Education’s decision to cancel $150 million in loans of former students of closed for-profit colleges.

“The Department of Education illegally delayed implementation of the 2016 borrower defense rule, but because our clients in Bauer v. DeVos were willing to fight back, 15,000 students are finally getting the relief they are owed. The Department must take the next step and fully implement the 2016 borrower defense rule for over 100,000 students awaiting justice on their borrower defense claims. It’s past time for the Department to do the right thing and cancel the student loan debt of students who have been cheated by for-profit colleges.”

About the Project on Predatory Student Lending

Established in 2012, the Project on Predatory Student Lending represents former students of predatory for-profit colleges. Its mission is to litigate to make it legally and financially impossible for federally-funded predatory schools to cheat students and taxpayers.

The Project has brought a wide variety of cases on behalf of former students of for-profit colleges, including the case that required this loan cancellation. It has sued the federal Department of Education for its other failures to meet its legal obligation to police this industry and stop the perpetration and collection of fraudulent student loan debt. For more information, see https://predatorystudentlending.org.