Defrauded Washington state borrowers will see $10.91 million in relief
Senator Murray: “After being cheated out of their education and their savings by a predatory for-profit college, these students need their loans discharged—and now, after years of waiting, I’m so glad to see that they’ll finally have this stress lifted off their shoulders.”
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the Biden Administration providing $415 million in student debt relief to over 15,000 defrauded student loan borrowers. This includes $10.91 million in relief for defrauded student loan borrowers from Washington state.
“After years of the former Administration putting for-profit colleges ahead of students, I’m so relieved to see thousands of defrauded student loan borrowers get overdue relief—including nearly $11 million in relief headed to students in Washington state. After being cheated out of their education and their savings by a predatory for-profit college, these students need their loans discharged—and now, after years of waiting, I’m so glad to see that they’ll finally have this stress lifted off their shoulders.”
“No student working towards a higher education should ever have to worry about getting lied to or cheated by their institution—or not getting the debt relief they are owed. I’m glad to see the Biden Administration working to hold for-profit colleges accountable and provide millions in relief for struggling borrowers—and I’ll keep working to ease the burden of student debt and make college more affordable and accessible.”
This relief is overdue and comes after years of Senator Murray fighting to provide urgently-needed student debt relief to cheated and defrauded student loan borrowers. In May 2015, Senator Murray was among the very first Members of Congress to call for the Secretary of Education to use the “borrower defense” authority to discharge loans for students who were cheated by a for-profit college company. Since then, the Trump Administration and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos worked to delay and deny cheated and defrauded borrowers the relief they are owed. In August 2018, Senator Murray led 45 Senate Democrats in formally opposing the Secretary DeVos’ borrower defense rule that denied the vast majority of borrowers any relief. She then led the Senate in working to overturn the rule with a Congressional Review Act, which passed in March 2020 by a vote of 53-42—before the Trump Administration put for-profit colleges ahead of students once again by vetoing the law.
During the Biden Administration, Senator Murray has led the charge to urge Secretary Cardona to improve and expand our existing student loan repayment and forgiveness programs to ensure borrowers can access affordable payments and debt relief. Specifically, Senator Murray urged Secretary Cardona in a letter to make key improvements in income-driven repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), as well as ensure that borrowers who have been cheated and defrauded, who attended a school that has closed, or who have total and permanent disabilities are able to access the debt forgiveness that they are owed.
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