BOSTON — A coalition of state attorneys general have filed suit against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education for what the suit alleges was the unlawful repeal of the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule and its replacement with regulations that “do nothing more than benefit predatory for-profit schools at the expense of defrauded students.”
The lawsuit is being co-led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. It has been joined by 21 other state attorneys general.
The complaint claims that under the Trump Administration, the Department repealed the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule and replaced it with new regulations in 2019 that make it “virtually impossible for victimized students to obtain financial relief, while simultaneously rolling back oversight over unscrupulous and predatory schools.”
In a statement announcing the suit, Healey noted earlier this year, in a bipartisan effort, Congress voted to strike down the 2019 regulations using the Congressional Review Act. In May, President Trump vetoed the bipartisan resolution, in the first veto of domestic policy legislation by this administration, Healey said.
‘Rule is Unworkable’
“This new rule is unworkable, it’s unfair, and it’s a gift to the predatory for-profit schools that Betsy DeVos has been promoting since day one,” said Healey. “As an office that fights every day for vulnerable students and families, we know how disastrous this rule will be for them. We have taken this action today to make sure that the Department of Education does not cut off the relief they deserve.”
Added Eileen Connor, legal director at the Project on Predatory Student Lending, “Secretary Devos has a vendetta against students and her borrower defense rule shows how far she will go to deny defrauded students their rights under the law. The only way that students have been able to receive any measure of justice from the Department of Education has been through the courts. That’s why we filed a lawsuit in February alongside student advocates to challenge this devastating rule, and we thank Attorneys General Healey and Becerra for standing with students and fighting alongside us for their rights in court.”
Regulations Built on ‘Lessons Learned’
According to the plaintiffs, the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule provided critical protections for student borrowers who have been misled or defrauded by predatory schools by providing borrowers a transparent and efficient pathway to get debt relief from their federal student loans and creating robust deterrents for schools that engage in misconduct.
“These regulations were built on lessons learned from the collapse of Corinthian Colleges – a predatory, for-profit chain of colleges that left tens of thousands of students across the nation in need of relief,” the Massachusetts Attorney Generals office said. “They also protected taxpayers by holding schools accountable that engage in misconduct.”
Upon taking office, Secretary DeVos sided with for-profit schools and demonstrated public hostility to the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule. Just two weeks before the rule was set to go into effect, the Trump Administration unlawfully delayed its implementation, the plaintiffs said.
Additional Arguments
The lawsuit argues that the Department’s repeal and replacement of the 2016 Borrower Defense Rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it was done without explanation or reasoned decision making and does not comply with Congress’s requirement in the Higher Education Act that the Secretary of Education implement a process for borrowers who have been subjected to a school’s misconduct to obtain relief.
Other states joining in the suit include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.