News
Education Department Doubles Number of Loans it Improperly Collected On | US News and World Report
In a monthly compliance report dated Dec. 1, department officials disclosed that a glitch in the agency's monitoring system resulted in a major undercount of the number of borrowers who were incorrectly collected on, either in the form of traditional payments or wage and tax refund garnishments.
Project Praises Senator Durbin’s Proposal to Overturn Secretary DeVos’ Borrower Defense Rule| Press Release
Senator Dick Durbin criticized Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ rewritten borrower defense rule and urged his Senate colleagues to support his Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval when it comes to the Senate floor for a vote.
Devos Refuses To Forgive Student Debt For Those Defrauded By For-Profit Colleges | NPR
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is in a standoff with Democrats over why she is refusing to forgive the debts of tens of thousands of borrowers who say they were defrauded by for-profit colleges.
Time 100 Next | Time
Years before student debt would be widely considered a national crisis—Americans now owe a combined $1.6 trillion—Toby Merrill started using litigation to fight what she calls the “worst-of-the-worst student debt,” the kind incurred by students who enrolled in predatory for-profit colleges that burdened them with debt and provided them with worthless degrees.
Project on Predatory Student Lending’s Toby Merrill Named to TIME 100 Next | Press Release
TIME named Toby Merrill, founder and Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, to the first-ever TIME 100 Next, a new expansion of the TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world. The list highlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, health, science and activism, and more.
Rising Debt and Fewer Regulations are Leaving Students Vulnerable to Predatory Colleges | NBC
Theresa Sweet’s parents gave her a 35-millimeter camera when she was in the third grade. She fondly recalls saving her allowance to develop film as she became the family photographer. It was a gift that would change her life forever, setting her on a path into the world of for-profit colleges.
Trump Admin Backtracks on Bid to Stop $100K Fine | Politico
The Trump administration is withdrawing its request that a federal judge reconsider the $100,000 fine she imposed for violating a court order on student loan collection. The administration says it can’t yet be sure whether it’s in “full compliance” with that order.
Trump Nominee Worked on Illegal Plan to Deny Help to Scam Victims | MSNBC
Rachel Maddow reports on a memo that shows that controversial Donald Trump judicial nominee Steven Menashi helped craft an illegal plan to deny debt relief to victims of a scammy for-profit college.
Appeals Court Nominee Shaped DeVos’s Illegal Loan Forgiveness Effort | New York Times
A judicial nominee slated for a key Senate committee vote on Thursday helped devise an illegal Education Department effort to use private Social Security data to deny debt relief to thousands of students cheated by their for-profit colleges, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.
Education Department Pleads with Federal Judge to Reconsider $100,000 Fine | Washington Post
The Education Department is asking a federal judge who slapped a $100,000 fine on the agency for violating an order to stop collecting loan payments from former Corinthian Colleges students to reconsider the sanctions. The motion filed Friday did not seek to reverse the contempt of court order that Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California imposed on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for violating the preliminary injunction.