Chairman Scott Applauds Biden Administration for Extending Relief to 115,000 Defrauded Student Borrowers
WASHINGTON – Today, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it will make $1.1 billion in closed school discharges available to an additional 115,000 borrowers who attended the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute (ITT).
“I applaud President Biden and Secretary Cardona for extending student loan relief to 115,000 student borrowers who were defrauded by ITT Technical Institute. Numerous investigations into ITT’s conduct have uncovered a pattern of predatory and deceptive practices that tricked students into taking on debt they could not afford to attend schools that were on the brink of collapse. It is telling that nearly half of the defrauded student borrowers receiving relief are currently in default. Today’s announcement will give hundreds of thousands of students and families the long overdue relief they need and deserve.
“This action is also a reminder that taxpayers are frequently forced to pay for the deceptive practices of predatory colleges. The Education Department should start holding for-profit executives personally liable for their role in defrauding students, and Congress must protect students and taxpayers by strengthening accountability for low-quality schools. Last year, the Education and Labor Committee advanced the College Affordability Act, which would crack down on schools that leave students with exorbitant debt and useless degrees. Until we enact stronger guardrails for these for-profit schools, students and taxpayers will continue to be on the hook for the consequences of their deceptive practices.
“I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for delivering meaningful relief to hundreds of thousands of defrauded borrowers and their families. I hope this announcement will prompt my Republican colleagues to stop blocking reasonable accountability measures that would shield future students and taxpayers from the costs of predatory colleges.”
Read the Committee’s in-depth report on the Trump administration’s handling of Borrower Defense claims here.
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