House Democrats Sound the Alarm on the Impact of the ‘Big, Ugly Law’ On Student Borrowers
“It is imperative that the Department and negotiators use the rulemaking process to prioritize protecting students from low-quality programs, unscrupulous actors, and unaffordable student debt.”
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce led 53 of his colleagues in a letter to the Department of Education (ED or the Department) urging the Department to account for the harm Republicans’ ‘Big, Ugly Law’, passed earlier this year will have on students as the Department begins carrying out the law’s changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965. These changes will increase monthly payments and delay forgiveness for Americans struggling with student debt, weaken consumer protections for borrowers, and make it more difficult for working families to afford college.
The Members highlighted how the changes made in the ‘Big, Ugly Law’ will leave students vulnerable to low-quality, predatory programs without recourse, and how the Trump Administration’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education will leave the remaining staff unable to effectively implement changes to student aid and leave students and families with no one to help them through the financial aid process.
“Since this Administration has expressed its intention to close the Department, and since we believe that Public Law 119-21 is the most destructive piece of law impacting higher education access and affordability in recent history, it is imperative that the Department and negotiators use the rulemaking process to prioritize protecting students from low-quality programs, unscrupulous actors, and unaffordable student debt,” wrote the Members.
“Public Law 119-21 will undoubtedly limit many low-income students’ options for an affordable, high-quality higher education experience,” the Members continued. “As the [negotiators] develop regulations for these policies, we urge both the Department and negotiators to put students and borrowers first; consider how each decision will impact a student’s ability to afford their education.”
To read the full letter, click here.
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