Teachers Union Lawsuit Claims DeVos 'Capriciously' Repealed Borrower Protections
One of the nation's largest teachers unions is expected to sue U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday. The complaint: She repealed a rule meant to protect student loan borrowers from for-profit and career-focused schools that graduate them with too much debt and limited job prospects.
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers (AFT), says the lawsuit's message is clear: "Protect the students of the United States of America — not the for-profit [schools] that are making a buck off of them."
The 2014 rule that DeVos repealed, known as "gainful employment," served as a warning to for-profit colleges and any school that offers career certificate programs: If graduates don't earn enough income to repay their student debts, schools could lose access to federal aid.
Because many of these programs derive the bulk of their revenue from federal student loans and grants, it was a potentially devastating threat. So devastating that, Weingarten says, "the rule worked. What started happening is that these places — not just the for-profits, but anyone who was covered by this — they started cleaning up their act."
"Declare victory and go home"
When the Obama administration began working on a gainful employment rule back in 2010, some for-profit institutions started to make changes, trying to head off a potential reckoning. For example, Kaplan Higher Education unveiled an introductory, tuition-free period for prospective students to take classes. In a press release, Kaplan CONTINUE READING: Teachers Union To Sue Betsy DeVos Over Student Borrower Protections : NPR