News
Student loan forgiveness: Education Department discharges $1.1 billion in debt for 115,000 ITT students
by Aarthi Swaminathan
08.26.21 The Education Department (ED) is discharging $1.1 billion for 115,000 defrauded former students of the for-profit ITT Technical Institute (ITT) after a new review of existing regulations. ITT Technical Institute filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and shut down all campuses, affecting 149 locations and roughly 40,000 students, amid lawsuits and investigations over alleged predatory lending practices. "For years, ITT hid its true financial state from borrowers while luring many of them into taking out… Continue Reading
Roughly 40% of Americans don’t understand 401(k) fees, government watchdog finds
by Carmen Reinicke
08.26.21 Nearly 40% of Americans participating in 401(k) retirement plans do not fully understand the fees associated with the accounts, according to a report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog. The lack of knowledge around how fees work in the employer-sponsored retirement plans persists, the report found, even though the U.S. Department of Labor has required sponsors to provide participants with fee disclosures for about a decade. The report was initia… Continue Reading
Student loan forgiveness: Education Department discharges $1.1 billion in debt for 115,000 ITT students
by Aarthi Swaminathan
08.26.21 The Education Department (ED) is discharging $1.1 billion for 115,000 defrauded former students of the for-profit ITT Technical Institute (ITT) after a new review of existing regulations. ITT Technical Institute filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and shut down all campuses, affecting 149 locations and roughly 40,000 students, amid lawsuits and investigations over alleged predatory lending practices. "For years, ITT hid its true financial state from borrowers while luring many of them into taking out… Continue Reading
Education Department: Trump-era formula for defrauded students had 'significant flaws'
by Aarthi Swaminathan
08.25.21 The Biden Education Department (ED) is continuing to reverse course on Trump-era policies that led to blanket denials of borrower defense claims from students who were allegedly defrauded by various colleges. On Tuesday, the ED released reasoning for why the agency previously provided full debt relief for borrowers who had under the previous administration received only partial forgiveness despite being found to have been defrauded by a predatory institution. "The Department reviewed this meth… Continue Reading
Biden Pushes ‘Build Back Better’ Plan To Help Small Businesses
by Rohit Arora
08.25.21 Although Wall Street has largely roared back from the economic shock of the COVID pandemic, many small businesses still struggle to grow and compete. The Biden Administration says that part of the reason is the current tax code that "disproportionately benefits multinational corporations and a financial system that prevents millions of entrepreneurs from obtaining sufficient capital to start and expand operations." Nearly three-quarters of small businesses say the current tax system favors big … Continue Reading
Do You Qualify For $8.7 Billion Of Student Loan Forgiveness?
by Zack Friedman
08.21.21 Do you qualify for $8.7 billion of student loan forgiveness? Here's what you need to know. Student Loans If you have followed the latest student loan headlines, you may know that President Joe Biden has cancelled $8.7 billion of student loans since becoming president in January. This includes a major announcement this week to cancel $5.8 billion of student loans in Biden's single largest act of student loan cancellation. This begs the question: Do you qualify for this student loan cancellatio… Continue Reading
Education Department Will Erase $5.8 Billion In Loans For Borrowers With Disabilities
by Claire Lombardo
08.19.21 The U.S. Education Department announced Thursday that it is discharging the outstanding student loans of more than 323,000 borrowers who have significant, permanent disabilities, and will remove barriers for borrowers who qualify for this relief in the future. The announcement will erase some $5.8 billion in debt and marks a significant step toward fixing a troubled debt relief program meant to help borrowers with disabilities. NPR's reporting over the past two years has shown that a fraction o… Continue Reading
A top Democrat wants to make them pay. All the executives behind defunct for-profit schools, that is.
by Ayelet Sheffey
08.19.21 A series of for-profit colleges have shut down in recent years amid accusations of fraud, mismanagement, and misleading students into taking on student debt they can't pay off. A top Democrat wants to make these schools' executives pay. On Monday, House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott wrote a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, urging him to hold owners, board members, and executives of now-defunct for-profit schools "individually responsible" for money the schools owe… Continue Reading
Advocates are pushing to hold college executives liable when their schools collapse or mislead students
by Jillian Berman
08.19.21 Over the past several years, thousands of for-profit college students have had their education disrupted or learned that their degrees weren't worth much in the labor market as their schools collapsed amid allegations of fraud. Meanwhile, taxpayers are footing the bill for the more than $1 billion the students are owed in student loan relief. But the executives in charge of the schools have walked away relatively unscathed, in some cases, popping up at the helm of other colleges and education c… Continue Reading
A Minimum Wage Can Create Jobs
by Peter Coy
08.16.21 Hello! This is the first issue of my newsletter on economics and business for New York Times subscribers. I'll be hitting your inbox each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I joined Times Opinion in July after nearly 32 years at BusinessWeek and Bloomberg Businessweek, most of that time covering economics. I'm a journalist, not an economist, so my approach to the topic will naturally be different from that of the indispensable Paul Krugman. I admire economists, and I hope to convey my enthusiasm fo… Continue Reading
Democrats’ infrastructure gamble actually seems like it could be working
by Li Zhou
08.11.21 Earlier this summer, Democrats announced that they'd be taking a circuitous route in their efforts to pass major new funding for infrastructure, something they've dubbed the "two-track" plan. Effectively, they planned to do two things in parallel: work to advance a bipartisan infrastructure bill containing provisions Republicans and Democrats agreed on (like money for roads and bridges), and use a special budget reconciliation process to pass the priorities with only Democratic support, such as… Continue Reading
This Is the Job Market We’ve Been Waiting For
by Neil Irwin
08.08.21 America is getting back to work. That's the simplest, clearest analysis of the labor market that emerges from nearly every line of the July employment numbers released Friday morning. It is a welcome sign that, as of the middle of last month, the economy is healing rapidly - and that the previous couple of months reflected healthier results than previously estimated. There are caveats worth mentioning: The surveys on which this data is based were taken before people were worrying very much abo… Continue Reading
Biden administration extends a student loan payment pause.
by Erica L. Green
08.06.21 The Education Department announced Friday that it would continue a moratorium on federal student loan payments through Jan. 31, extending emergency relief for millions of borrowers that had been set to expire next month. The department said that this would be the "final extension" of the pause, which the Trump administration instituted in March 2020 at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, and that the additional time would allow the agency to transition borrowers back into repayment and redu… Continue Reading
Richard Trumka, longtime president of AFL-CIO, dies at 72
by Brian Slodysko and Thomas Beaumont
08.05.21 Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to preside over one of the largest labor organizations in the world, died Thursday. He was 72. The federation confirmed Trumka's death in a statement. He had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organization's secretary-treasurer for 14 years. From his perch, he oversaw a federation with more than 12.5 million members and ushered in a more aggressive style of leadership. "The l… Continue Reading
Education Secretary to state leaders: 'Don't be the reason why schools are interrupted'
by Joseph Choi
08.05.21 Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday called on state leaders like Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Greg Abbott (R-Texas) to not "be the reason why schools are interrupted," and spoke out against the inclusion of "politics" in school reopenings. During a press briefing, Cardona was asked what he would say to DeSantis and Abbott, who have both banned mask mandates for schools in their respective states. "Don't be the reason why schools are interrupted. Kids have suffered enough," Cardon… Continue Reading
Some States Using Federal Relief Funds To Give Frontline Workers Another “Stimulus” Check
by Lisa Rowan
08.02.21 Amid concerns about the rising rate of Covid-19 cases across the country, some frontline workers may be eligible for a direct payment from their state. This isn't the long-sought Federally-distributed fourth stimulus check. Rather, the funds are being distributed by some state and local governments from their portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to certain groups of frontline workers as a one-time bonus payment. But eligible recipients might be forced to wait. The $350 billion allot… Continue Reading
CDC Calls for Return to Universal Masking in Schools
by Sarah D. Sparks
07.27.21 With most students unable to be vaccinated by fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that even vaccinated students and teachers in K-12 schools should wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The CDC recommends that "everyone in K-12 schools wear masks indoors, including teachers, students, and visitors, regardless of vaccination." "Now, with more cases in this country and our real effort to try and make sure that our kids can safely get back to in-p… Continue Reading
Biden celebrates anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
by Alex Gangitano
07.26.21 President Biden on, Monday celebrated the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a sweeping civil rights law, and announced a new program to help Americans experiencing long-term COVID-19 symptoms and conditions. "For our nation, the ADA is more than a law as well, it's a testament to our character as a people, our character as Americans," Biden said in the Rose Garden. Biden, as a senator, was a co-sponsor of the legislation, which prohibits discrimination against indi… Continue Reading
Fauci says vulnerable populations may need vaccine booster shots
by Caroline Vakil
07.25.21 Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that it was likely vulnerable populations who have already been vaccinated would need COVID-19 booster shots. During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," host Jake Tapper mentioned a study published by Israel's Health Ministry last week that estimated the Pfizer vaccine had a 39 percent overall effectiveness at preventing coronavirus infections in a study conducted over the last month. Tapper noted that the study's data was preliminary but cited CNN reportin… Continue Reading
Now is the time to end the subminimum wage for people with disabilities
by Larysa Kautz and Opinion Contributor
07.21.21 Every day, thousands of people with disabilities across the country wake up and head out to their jobs. They put in a hard day's work, just like any other American, and earn a paycheck that supports their ability to live and play in their community. And yet for some, that's not the whole story. Right now in America, nearly half a million people with disabilities are working for less than minimum wage - earning an average of $3.34 an hour - while being subjected to demeaning time trials to deter… Continue Reading