Larson Votes to Stop DeVos Attack on Students Defrauded by Predatory Colleges

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) voted for H.J. Res. 76, which reverses a harmful rule issued by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos denying debt relief to students defrauded by predatory, for-profit colleges. Larson is a cosponsor of the legislation.

"The Department of Education should be working on behalf of our students, not in support of predatory institutions. The DeVos education department is leaving over 1,000 Connecticut students on the hook for student loans after they were defrauded by their schools. Now they're trying to make it harder for students to get relief. I voted to stop this rule from going into effect. It's time for the Department of Education to turn their attention to addressing the student debt crisis, not making it worse," said Larson.

Background on the Borrower Defense Rule:

• Under the Higher Education Act, students have a right to have their federal student loans discharged when they have been defrauded by a predatory college.
• Since taking over the Department of Education, Secretary DeVos has illegally stopped processing pending Borrower Defense applications, even after being ordered to process them by a U.S. district court.
• In Connecticut, over 1,000 students are waiting for their applications to be approved.
• This rule drastically scales back the ability for future borrowers to get relief, including by shortening the time window for borrowers to act and requiring the borrower to prove a school purposefully defrauded them.

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