Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Higher Education
Chairs Maloney and Scott Issue Statement After Department of Education Suspends Tool to Help Defrauded Student Borrowers
11.23.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following statement after the Department of Education suspended a new web tool designed to simplify the Borrower Defense application process for individuals who were ripped off by their schools: "We are troubled that the Department of Education removed a new web tool from its website that was desi… Continue Reading
New Documents Show Department of Education Froze Tool to Help Defrauded Student Borrowers
10.27.20 WASHINGTON -Today, Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, released new documents detailing how the Department of Education froze a tool designed to ease the Borrower Defense application process for borrowers who were ripped off by their schools, typically for-profit colleges. "We are deeply troubled that the Department of Education halted a web tool to help simpli… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Asks Department of Education Watchdog to Investigate Department Role in Dream Center Misconduct
08.10.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) sent a letter to the Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG) requesting an investigation into the Department's role in the misconduct of Dream Center Education Holdings, a for-profit higher education company that actively defrauded students and taxpayers. The request follows a report released by the Committee on Education and Labor, which indicates that Under Secretary Diane Auer Jones -… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on Student Loan Executive Order
08.08.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) released the following statement in response to the President Trump's executive order that freezes federal student loan payments and interest until December 31, 2020. "President Trump's executive order does nothing to address the crisis facing our education system. It does nothing to help state and local governments avoid deep cuts to public education, which could be as high as $300 billion over the next two years. It does nothing to help s… Continue Reading
Committee Democrats to DeVos: Stop Unlawfully Withholding Emergency Aid from Students
08.04.20 WASHINGTON - In a letter to Secretary DeVos, 19 Committee Democrats expressed strong opposition to the Education Department's repeated efforts to implement unauthorized restrictions on students' access to higher education emergency aid provided under the CARES Act. The CARES Act provided more than $14 billion in emergency aid to institutions of higher education and required half of that funding to be used for emergency grants to students. Despite the law including no restrictions on student e… Continue Reading
Chairwoman Davis Opening Statement at Hearing Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education
07.07.20 WASHINGTON - Chairwoman Susan Davis (CA-53) delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled, "A Major Test: Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on the Future of Higher Education." "Today, we are examining how the COVID-19 pandemic is straining our higher education system and discussing what Congress must do to support students and institutions through this difficult time. "Across the country, the rush to suspend on-campus activities and switch to online learning has exacer… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Urges Colleagues to Stand with Defrauded Students By Overriding Presidential Veto of H.J. Res. 76
06.26.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Scott delivered the following remarks during the floor debate to override President Trump's veto of H.J. Res. 76, a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse Secretary Betsy DeVos' 2019 Borrower Defense rule. "I rise today in support of overriding President Trump's veto of House Joint Resolution 76, a bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolution that would stop the Education Department's harmful Borrower Defense rule from going into effect. "I first want to recogn… Continue Reading
Committee Report Details Secretary DeVos’ Efforts to Delay and Deny Debt Relief for Defrauded Student Borrowers
06.25.20 WASHINGTON - A report released today by the Committee on Education and Labor details the Department of Education's efforts to delay and deny debt relief for student borrowers who were defrauded by predatory institutions. The report captures nearly two years of congressional oversight and provides a comprehensive look into how Secretary Betsy DeVos prevented hundreds of thousands of defrauded borrowers from receiving the relief they deserved. The Committee released the report, entitled "Delayed… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Trump Vetoing Bipartisan Resolution to Protect Students from Predatory Schools
05.29.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Trump vetoed legislation, passed in March, to reverse the Department of Education's Borrower Defense rule. The Department's rule would deny debt relief to students defrauded by predatory colleges. "Earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans came together to block Secretary DeVos' Borrower Defense rule that shields predatory schools from accountability and denies relief to student borrowers who… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott to Secretary DeVos: Stop Illegally Garnishing Wages on Student Loan Borrowers
05.20.20 WASHINGTON - In a letter to Department of Education Secretary DeVos, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) demanded an explanation for the Department illegally garnishing the wages on student loan borrowers amid the COVID-19-a direct violation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27. In the letter, Chairman Scott notes that as recently as May 6, employers indicated that they could not stop garnishing wag… Continue Reading
Scott, Nadler Statement on Education Department’s Final Title IX Rule
05.06.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) issued the following statement after the Department of Education finalized a rule to revise standards for schools' responsibility under the Title IX to respond to campus sexual assault and harassment. "It is alarming that instead of focusing on helping students, educators, and institutions cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department wasted valuable time finalizing a rule that will erode … Continue Reading
Committee Democrats Call on Secretary DeVos to Fix Borrower Defense Application Process
05.04.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Democrats sent a comment letter to Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos opposing some of the Department's proposed changes to the application to the Borrower Defense program. The Members expressed serious concerns that some of Department's proposed changes are unnecessary and may deter applicants. The Borrower Defense program allows student loan borrowers to seek debt relief if they are defrauded by their institution. In the letter, the Memb… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on Senate Voting to Reverse DeVos’ Harmful Borrower Defense Rule
03.11.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Senate passed S.J.Res.56, the Senate version of House Democrats' first use of the Congressional Review Act that reverses the Department of Education's Borrower Defense rule, which would deny debt relief to students defrauded by predatory colleges. "Student borrowers who are defrauded by predatory colleges should have access to timely and meaningful debt relief. But under Secretary DeVos's rewrite of … Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Asks Education Department Watchdog to Investigate DeVos’ Plan to Deny Full Debt Relief for Defrauded Borrowers
03.09.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) sent a letter to the Education Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) requesting an investigation into the Department's plan to deny full debt relief for borrowers defrauded by for-profit colleges. The request comes after multiple independent analyses found that the Department's new plan to provide only partial relief to defrauded borrowers was "nonsensical and harmful to students." On Decembe… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget Proposal
02.10.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) budget priorities. "President Trump's budget proposal is another shocking demonstration of the administration's willingness to break its promises to the American people. Just two days after President Trump pledged that he would not cut Social Security or Medicare, the president released a FY 2021 budget proposal that cuts more than $1 trillion over the next deca… Continue Reading
Scott, Trahan Seek Explanation for Education Department’s Scheme to Deny Full Debt Relief for Thousands of Defrauded Borrowers
02.03.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) and Representative Lori Trahan (MA-03) sent a letter to Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos requesting documents and further information regarding the Department's deeply flawed partial relief formula and the Department's efforts to alter the formula. Two days before Secretary DeVos' testimony before the Committee, the Department unveiled a new formula to process claims by defrauded borrowers … Continue Reading
Lawmakers Question Education Department and Accreditor About Fake Universities Used to Entrap Foreign-National Students
01.16.20 Text of the Letter to Education Department (PDF) | Text of the Letter to Accreditor (PDF) Washington, DC - House Education and Labor Committee Vice Chair Andy Levin (D-Mich.), House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment Chair Susan Davis (D-Calif.); and United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; sent letters to the Department of Education and the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools an… Continue Reading
Bonamici Votes to Block DeVos Rule that Hurts Defrauded Students
01.16.20 WASHINGTON, DC - Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Chair of the Education and Labor Committee's Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee, supported a House vote to block a Trump administration rule that would hurt students who have been defrauded by unscrupulous for-profit institutions. Hundreds of thousands of students, including thousands in Oregon, were left with burdensome loans and useless degrees after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges and other for-profit institutions t… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Stands Up for Students, and Votes to Reverse Devos’ Harmful Borrower Defense Rule
01.16.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement as the House voted to pass H.J.Res.76. This resolution, House Democrats' first use of the Congressional Review Act, reverses the Department of Education's harmful Borrower Defense rule, which would deny debt relief to students defrauded by predatory colleges. "The students we are trying to protect are victims of widespread, proven fraud from predatory schools about graduation rates, job placement rates, and t… Continue Reading
Committee Report Highlights Inequitable Funding for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs
09.12.19 WASHINGTON - A report released this morning by the Committee on Education and Labor highlights the chronic underfunding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The report, titled "Investing in Economic Mobility: The Important Role of HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in Closing Racial and Wealth Gaps in Higher Education" pulls together a mountain of evidence showing that greater federal investment in HBCUs, T… Continue Reading