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DeVos Ends Agreement to Work on Student Loan Fraud
In early February, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Education Secretary. Two Republicans, Senators Murkowski (AK) and Collins (ME), joined the entire Democratic caucus to force an historic tie-breaking vote from Vice President Pence. Read more at this link. Her installation to a position of power over our education system means she spends every day implementing policies with destructive consequences for our country.
Fresh off naming Julian Schmoke, a former DeVry dean, as head of the fraud enforcement unit of the Department of Education, DeVos is immediately at it again harming our students and our future to benefit corporate interests.
The Education Department on Friday announced it will stop working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to police student loan fraud.
CFPB spokesman David Mayorga said the bureau was "surprised and disappointed" by the Education Department's move, and that CFPB hadn't heard from Education about any concerns.
"The Consumer Bureau has statutory responsibilities to protect student loan borrowers – like all consumers – from practices that violate the laws we enforce and would like to continue to work with the Education Department toward our shared goals," Mayorga said.
DeVos, like hundreds of counterparts installed by the Trump regime, are prioritizng the interests of private corporations over those of our people and our future. In this case, the interests of predatory for-profit schools and debt collectors are being put above those of students. Unthinkable.
Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s student loan borrower project, said, “Education is now trying to stop the CFPB from handling loan-related complaints, but Education’s failures are what led Congress to give the CFPB authority to help students."