TUCSON—Recently, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a complete overhaul of the Obama-era Borrower Defense Rule. The new rule will make it more difficult for borrowers to receive student debt forgiveness after they were defrauded by for-profit colleges. In response, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva issued the following statement:

“Secretary DeVos is once again putting the interests of her for-profit college cronies before those of our students—including many service members who have been disproportionately targeted by unscrupulous for-profit colleges,” said Rep. Grijalva. “Her overhaul of the borrower defense rule will make life-changing debt relief more challenging, less impactful, and increasingly rare for borrowers who desperately need it.”

Rep. Grijalva has been a champion for stronger federal regulations to reign in the shady practices of the for-profit college industry. Since 2013, he has introduced the Protect Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act to prohibit for-profit colleges from using federal funds to market their programs to vulnerable students. He repeatedly urged both the Obama and Trump Administrations to strengthen regulations to protect student borrowers from predatory institutions and vehemently opposed the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Gainful Employment Rule in 2018.  

“The shameful legacy of for-profit colleges is well-documented and lengthy,” continued Grijalva. “As their executives lined their own pockets, they left vulnerable students with bogus degrees and exorbitant debts they were unable to repay. The Department of Education should provide strong consumer protections to students defrauded by for-profit colleges instead of more cover for these predatory institutions.” 

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