Chairman Scott’s Statement on Biden’s ED Providing Thousands of Defrauded Borrowers Debt Relief
WASHINGTON – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it approved $415 Million in Borrower Defense Claims for nearly 16,000 borrowers.
“I applaud President Biden and Secretary Cardona for delivering relief to nearly 16,000 student borrowers who were defrauded by their college or university, including approximately 1,800 students who were defrauded by DeVry University. This also marks the first time the Education Department has approved claims for an institution that is currently in operation. Today’s announcement will give thousands of students who were defrauded by predatory, for-profit colleges the relief they need and deserve. This relief is long overdue, as many of these borrowers filed these claims years ago, yet the previous administration refused to grant relief to borrowers. Moreover, it will hopefully deter other institutions from misleading students and providing them with a low-quality education in the future.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is delivering on its promise to grant relief to student borrowers. Today’s actions bring the total amount of approved relief under borrower defense claims to approximately $1.9 billion for more than 107,000 borrowers. Additionally, over the past year, the Administration has discharged the loans of 364,000 borrowers who have a total and permanent disability and secured relief for roughly 70,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
“No institution should put their bottom line ahead of its students. I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for holding institutions accountable and, as Chairman, I will continue to conduct strong oversight to protect student borrowers and their families from predatory practices.”
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The Department of Education will seek to recoup the cost of the student loan discharges from DeVry University. In August, Chairman Scott sent a letter urging the Department to hold the executives of failed for-profit colleges and converted for-profit colleges personally liable for money the institution owes to the federal government.
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