Third Way Statement on bipartisan House vote to overturn Secretary DeVos’ borrower defense rule
WASHINGTON — Third Way issued the following statement from Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President for Social Policy & Politics, on the vote in the House to overturn Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ borrower defense rule:
“Students who have been the victims of fraud and illegal misconduct by their colleges are legally entitled to receive federal student loan relief. We support the House’s bipartisan vote today to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution overturning Secretary DeVos’ misguided 2019 borrower defense to repayment rule, which would make it nearly impossible for defrauded borrowers to find the relief they desperately need and shield bad actors from being held accountable for their wrongdoing.
“This isn’t about politics. You don’t have to fully endorse previous iterations of the rule to acknowledge that Secretary DeVos’ rewrite is both extreme and extremely bad for students. The 2019 rule sets an unjustly short statute of limitations, requires claims to be discharged individually even in cases of well-documented and widespread abuse, and places a higher burden of proof on borrowers than any other consumer protection law.
“According to the Department of Education’s own estimates, only 3% of federal student loans associated with illegal conduct by institutions would be forgiven under the new rule—and just 1% would be repaid by the predatory colleges themselves. It is clear that this rewrite is inconsistent with the intention of the Higher Education Act and would do little to hold institutions financially accountable for unlawful activity or to protect the significant higher education investment of students and taxpayers.
“The passage of this resolution in the House now gives Senators the opportunity to stand in support of defrauded borrowers. The CRA would send a clear message that the federal government will follow through on its legal commitment to relieve the debt of borrowers who were deceived by predatory colleges. We believe that the Senate should follow the House’s lead in overturning the 2019 borrower defense rule and demanding that the Department of Education work toward a better solution to prevent misconduct by institutions and do right by students.”