Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt

Kuttner on TAP

New Hope for Student Debt Relief

With the appointment of Richard Cordray as chief of federal student loan programs, we will now see the potential of executive power to bring relief and end abuses. Cordray is a close ally of Elizabeth Warren and former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The first best policy, of course, would be outright cancellation of up to $50,000 per student, as proposed by Sens. Warren and Schumer. Cordray can’t make that call. President Biden needs to. But there are several other things he can do.

For starters, there is the appalling story of management of cancellation of debt for people who do ten years of public service. This is authorized under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But under Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, the Education Department did everything possible to deny this relief.

To date, just 1.26 percent of applicants have received debt relief. In fact, in a lawsuit brought by the CONTINUE READING: Robert Kuttner: Biden’s Chance to Save College Students from Crushing Debt | Diane Ravitch's blog

"Bye-bye, Betsy DeVos. You won't be missed," says Sanders to billionaire education secretary | Salon.com

"Bye-bye, Betsy DeVos. You won't be missed," says Sanders to billionaire education secretary | Salon.com

"Bye-bye, Betsy DeVos. You won't be missed," says Sanders to billionaire education secretary

Sanders calls DeVos "the worst education secretary in the history of America" as she attacks tuition-free college

Sen. Bernie Sanders late Tuesday called Betsy DeVos "the worst education secretary in the history of America" and made abundantly clear that he's not mourning her imminent departure after the billionaire school privatization zealot lashed out at popular proposals to cancel student loan debt and make public colleges and universities tuition-free.

"What do you call a billionaire who registered a $40 million, 164-foot yacht in the Cayman Islands to avoid $2.4 million in U.S. taxes, while undermining public schools? The worst education secretary in the history of America," tweeted the Vermont senator, a leading proponent of student debt cancellation and tuition-free higher education. "Bye-bye, Betsy DeVos. You won't be missed."

In a speech at an Education Department financial aid conference on Tuesday, the outgoing education secretary dismissed as "government gift-giving" proposals to forgive crippling student loan debt and eliminate tuition for public colleges and universities.

"We've heard shrill calls to cancel, to forgive, to make it all free. Any innocuous label out there can't obfuscate what it really is: Wrong," said DeVos, who last year proposed handing the federal government's $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio over to a "stand-alone government corporation." Critics slammed the proposal as an attempt to prevent the next president from canceling any of the debt.

President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to forgive a portion of the student debt held by tens of millions of Americans and make public colleges and universities tuition-free for families with incomes below $125,000 a year. The former vice president has not yet announced his pick to succeed DeVos. CONTINUE READING: "Bye-bye, Betsy DeVos. You won't be missed," says Sanders to billionaire education secretary | Salon.com