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Secretary DeVos Is Sued for Delaying Debt Relief for Defrauded Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 14, 2017
Contact: Allie Aguilera, allie.aguilera@younginvincibles.org 202-734-6529
 

Secretary DeVos Is Sued for Delaying Debt Relief for Defrauded Students

[WASHINGTON]–Today, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed lawsuits against Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education for refusing to process valid debt relief claims filed by defrauded students.

“By refusing to direct the Department to process borrowers’ claims in a timely manner, Secretary DeVos is holding students who have been taken advantage of accountable for the actions of collapsed, fraudulent institutions. That’s wrong, and it is a grave disservice to far too many borrowers who deserve a clean slate,” said Young Invincibles’ Government Affairs Director Reid Setzer.

“Earlier this week, a new report by the Department of Education’s Inspector General made clear that there is no legal reason that Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education cannot provide debt relief to defrauded students, and that they should start providing that relief immediately. Over 30,000 students had their debt relief applications approved and processed by the Department of Education prior to January 20th, and another nearly 12,000 claims have been approved for relief since then. Despite the fact that most of these approved claims come from similarly situated students, who all attended the predatory and defunct for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Secretary DeVos has unfairly placed these more recently approved applications in administrative limbo and is holding up fully processing them to give desperately needed relief.

Beyond those pending approvals, there are tens of thousands of other borrowers waiting for their claims to be resolved. We hope the judicial system will act swiftly and require Secretary DeVos to issue the relief that the law and the Department’s findings require.”