DeVos rolls back Obama-era policy that aimed to curb abuse from for-profit colleges - DMT NEWS

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DeVos rolls back Obama-era policy that aimed to curb abuse from for-profit colleges

DMT.NEWS


Education Secretary Betsy DeVos moved Friday to roll back a policy created under the Obama administration that aimed to prevent for-profit colleges from predatory practices. 

The Department of Education posted a notice online, saying the Gainful Employment rule created in 2014 would be repealed entirely starting July 1, 2020.

Under Gainful Employment rules, for-profit colleges were required to share student debt-to-earnings ratios to prove their programs were worth the cost and adequately educated students. Colleges that consistently left graduates with low incomes and high debt would lose federal funding. 

In the notice posted Friday, however, DeVos officials argued that the rule was flawed and other factors outside of program quality could contribute to a graduate's future salary.  

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"Again and again, Secretary DeVos proves she only cares about protecting for-profit colleges, no matter how many students they swindle," Aaron Ament, president of the National Student Legal Defense Network, said in a statement.

The move comes as the student-debt crisis has become a policy topic among 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, and the lawmakers debate how to address the more than $1 trillion in outstanding student debt in the U.S. 

Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released his plan to cancel $1.3 trillion in student debt, a move that comes after challenger Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) rolled out her own plan to forgive tens of thousands in loans.

DeVos has taken a number of steps to roll back other Obama-era rules targeting for-profit colleges, including dismantling a team dedicated to uncovering fraud at such institutions and reinstating a for-profit college accreditor despite her own staff's warnings that the organization did not meet federal standards.


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Brooke Seipel, Khareem Sudlow