DeVos Falsely Suggests That Student Loans Were Federalized to Pay for Obamacare
n an interview with Politico, Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, falsely suggested that the federal government had taken control of the student-loan market to help pay for the administration of the Affordable Care Act.
The statement reinforces the impression that Ms. DeVos is not schooled in the basics of higher-ed policy. Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California system, previously told The Chronicle that she had to explain to the secretary what a specific federal grant for low-income students — commonly known as a “SEOG grant” — was. “Her learning curve where higher ed is concerned is quite vertical,” she said.
Ms. DeVos’s answer to Politico came in response to a question from a reporter on why “I pay a 2.4-percent interest rate on my Ford Explorer, but my Navient student loan I pay six and a quarter.”
The secretary responded by saying it was “a good question.” The reporter then asked whether she planned to do something about it. The secretary responded:
“The federalizing of student loans was ostensibly to help pay for Obamacare. So you're helping to pay for Obamacare, I guess, with your student loans.”
“The federal government took over student loans completely right after the economic downturn. And so … the market for student loans has been basically controlled by the federal government. … And, the federalizing of student loans was ostensibly to help pay for Obamacare. So you’re helping to pay for Obamacare, I guess, with your student loans.”
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for clarification of the remark. Higher-ed policy experts say her answer is a fundamental misreading of how CONTINUE READING: DeVos Falsely Suggests That Student Loans Were Federalized to Pay for Obamacare - The Chronicle of Higher Education
