The U.S. Department of Education is delaying new rules that would have protected student loan borrowers from predatory and deceptive practices by higher education institutions.
The decision is deeply troubling, said Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
“As Washington’s chief law enforcement officer, I have worked tirelessly to protect student loan borrowers, and I strongly support the revised rules that were set to take effect on July 1,” Ferguson said Wednesday.
The protections delayed by the Trump administration and Secretary Betsy DeVos include:
- Prohibitions on schools forcing students to pursue complaints in arbitration rather than in court.
- Prohibitions on schools requiring students to waive participation in class action lawsuits.
- The provision of automatic relief and group relief for defrauded federal student loan borrowers in certain circumstances, including following legal actions by state attorneys general.
“As findings of widespread fraud and misrepresentation by Corinthian Colleges make clear, we need to do more to protect students who took out loans to pay for education they did not receive, and to ensure that there are meaningful avenues for relief when they are left paying for promises that never materialized,’ he said.
“This decision hurts students while helping those schools that systematically defraud students,” Ferguson said. “It is disappointing that, once again, this administration chooses to turn its back on borrowers in need of assistance and protection.”
