Department of Education to Student Borrowers: We Will Not Have Your Back

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Department of Education’s proposed new borrower defense rules:

“With these borrower defense draft rules, the Department of Education is once again proposing to fail our nation’s students and fail to enforce our nation’s laws. The department’s message to student borrowers is clear: we no longer have your back. As of May 1, 2018, there are 99,335 ‘borrower defense’ claims by students and nearly $13 billion in relief to students still pending. The draft rules would further exacerbate inequalities, making the already unfair and ineffective student loan servicing system even more harmful to all students – particularly to borrowers of color. This proposal would strip away borrower rights and would not protect students from predatory practices in both higher education and student loan servicing. Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education have the responsibility to protect all students from exploitation while they pursue their college dreams. Giving predatory for-profit colleges and student loan servicers a license to cheat and defraud generations of students is an abdication of that responsibility. The department can and should go back to the drawing board and deter schools and servicers from taking advantage of students and provide borrowers real access to relief.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.