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<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-yale-university-illegal-discrimination-practices-undergraduate#:~:text=Race%20Discrimination%20Against%20Applicants%20to,race%20and%20national%20origin%20discrimination.">On Thursday, the Justice Department sued</a> <keyword id="66336" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yale">Yale</keyword> University, accusing it of race-based discrimination on "most Asian and White applicants" after alleging <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-accused-yale-of-discriminating-against-asian-white-applicants-2020-8?_ga=2.207661330.1089374231.1597147818-1630707727.1571945279">in August that Yale</a> discriminated against Asian American and white applicants based on a two-year federal investigation.</li><li>Scholars of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community are criticizing the DOJ's accusation, saying it's part of a larger attempt to pit racial minorities against each other.</li><li>The DOJ is "leveraging the model minority myth to undermine the opportunity to build a multiracial coalition in this country to dismantle racism," a former board member of the Korean American Association told Insider in August.</li><li>Meanwhile, students and faculty have criticized legacy status as a factor of admissions that favors white applicants.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-yale-university-illegal-discrimination-practices-undergraduate#:~:text=Race%20Discrimination%20Against%20Applicants%20to,race%20and%20national%20origin%20discrimination.">The Department of Justice sued Yale University on Thursday</a>, accusing it of discriminating against Asian and white applicants.</p><p>The lawsuit comes months after the DOJ in August accused <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-accused-yale-of-discriminating-against-asian-white-applicants-2020-8?_ga=2.249808518.1089374231.1597147818-1630707727.1571945279">Yale of imposing undue and unlawful penalties on racially-disfavored applicants</a>, including Asian American and white applicants in particular. Their notice followed a two-year investigation following complaints about admissions at Ivy League colleges. Yale President Peter Salovey <a href="https://president.yale.edu/speeches-writings/statements/yales-steadfast-commitment-diversity">denounced the allegation at the time as "baseless."</a></p><p><a href="https://president.yale.edu/speeches-writings/statements/yale-will-continue-foster-diverse-and-vibrant-educational-environment">In a statement issued Thursday,</a> Salovey doubled down on the university's belief that the DOJ's "allegation is based on inaccurate statistics and unfounded conclusions."</p><p>"I want to be clear: Yale does not discriminate against applicants of any <keyword id="15024" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Race">race</keyword> or ethnicity. Our admissions practices are completely fair and lawful," he said. "Yale's admissions policies will not change as a result of the filing of this baseless lawsuit. We look forward to defending these policies in court."</p><p><a href="https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Press-Releases/2020-Press-Releases/AG-Tong-Statement-Regarding-Baseless-Trump-Administration-Lawsuit-Against-Yale-University">Connecticut Attorney General William Tong also criticized</a> the DOJ's allegations and said: "this lawsuit is as baseless as it is offensive, and every aspect of it demonstrates complete and utter overreach. My office is exploring all legal avenues to support Yale University and its students. The <keyword id="67869" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Department-of-Justice">Department of Justice</keyword> action deviates starkly from decades of well-established legal precedent and threatens to disrupt admissions practices at hundreds of universities nationwide."</p><h2>The DOJ's claim is messaging stoking 'white resentment,' scholars say</h2><p>Scholars of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community criticized the Justice Department's accusation in August that Yale discriminates against Asian American and white applicants, pointing out the move just pits racial minorities against each other while ignoring the larger problem of legacy admissions.</p><p>"It's leveraging the model minority myth to undermine the opportunity to build a multiracial coalition in this country to dismantle racism," Dona Kim Murphey, a former board member of the Korean American Association, told Insider in August.</p><p>According to Michael Li, senior counsel at The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan public policy center that focuses on equal representation in government, the DOJ's accusation is ultimately "messaging for white people."</p><p>"It's like 'Hey if you're stuck at a job or not moving up the economic ladder, your income hasn't increased for decades — you can blame people of color and elites for keeping you out of schools like Yale,'" Li told Insider in August. "That's just political messaging for November."</p><p>Li added that this messaging was in line with the <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> campaign stoking "white resentment for people taking jobs and spots in schools." He said that, in addition to targeting white working-class resentment, the campaign seeks to promote white suburbanite resentment by talking about "what schools children of white suburbanites get to go to."</p><p>"The message that this sends to the AAPI community is that the DOJ is very interested in dismantling policies that create diversity and increase access to those who have been excluded to places like Yale," Janelle Wong, a professor of American Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland, told Insider in August. Wong received her doctorate at Yale.</p><div type="image" title="harvard campus" height="446" width="892" msid="77555627" hostid="261"></div><p>Many selective private colleges use a holistic admissions process that accounts for each applicant's background, including their race. They also take into consideration a number of other factors, like legacy status.</p><p><a href="https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts">At Yale</a>, only 5.8% of the entire student population identifies as Black. Fewer than 10% are Hispanic, and under 15% are Asian. Nearly 43% of the student body is white.</p><p>The Justice Department's action against Yale resembles a recent case against Harvard University that also took aim at affirmative action policies. <a href="https://www.insider.com/judge-rules-in-favor-of-harvard-in-asian-discrimination-case-2019-10">Last year, a federal judge ruled against plaintiffs in a lawsuit that claimed Harvard discriminated against Asian-Americans</a>. The lawsuit was filed by Students for Fair Admissions, which is led by Edward Blum, a white politically conservative legal strategist. In February, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-amicus-brief-explaining-harvard-s-race-based-admissions-process">threw its support behind the lawsuit</a> when it was sent to an appeals court.</p><p>"There's been a movement to dismantle affirmative action policies for decades at this point," Kim Murphey, a Harvard alumna, told Insider in August. "It's very misguided and the fact that they're drawing Asian Americans into that is exceedingly problematic."</p><div type="image" title="Yale University" height="1329" width="1771" msid="77555630" hostid="261"></div><p>Jennifer Lee, a professor of sociology at Columbia University, told Insider by email in August that the DOJ's accusation is another example of "a full-throttle attack on affirmative action, fueled by the false equivalency of race and minoritized status."</p><p>She said that, in reality, "affirmative action is not negative action against Asian Americans" — and most voters recognize that. <a href="http://aapidata.com/blog/asianam-affirmative-action-surveys/">A 2016 AAPI data survey of Asian American attitudes</a> shows that nearly two-thirds of Asian Americans support affirmative action.</p><p>"There's so much evidence that these policies create the learning environment these students thrive in," Wong said, adding that affirmative actions do not harm but benefit the AAPI community.</p><p>The Department of Justice did not respond to Insider's request to comment in August.</p><h2>Meanwhile, students and faculty call the end of legacy status</h2><p>Admissions processes have been known to favor applicants with legacy status, meaning they're members of families who attended or donated to the respective university.</p><p>In a 2005 article <a href="https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2005/02/16/legacies-still-maintain-edge-in-admissions/">published in Yale's student newspaper</a>, the dean of undergraduate admissions, Richard Shaw, said legacy "gives a slight edge, and we have no qualms about that."</p><p>But there is little data or investigation into how tangibly the status affects applicant status. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-z-list-legacy-candidates-2018-7">According to The New York Times,</a> Harvard places children whose parents attended the college — who often donate money as alumni — on a "Z-list," where they are admitted after a gap year.</p><p>A survey conducted by <a href="https://features.thecrimson.com/2018/freshman-survey/makeup/">the Harvard student newspaper</a> showed that over a third of the Harvard Class of 2022 were legacy admits. A <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w26316.pdf">study by the National Bureau of Economic Research published in 2019</a> showed that over 43% of white admitted students were "recruited athletes, legacies, those on the dean's interest list, and children of faculty and staff." Fewer than 16% of African American, Asian American, and Hispanic admitted students, respectively, fit that category.</p><div type="image" title="Harvard Mask Statue" height="2890" width="3853" msid="77555632" hostid="261"></div><p>But data on legacy admissions released from the university are largely unavailable. A spokesperson for Harvard told Insider in an August statement that "we do not publicly release this type of data, as it is not part of the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data">IPEDS data set,</a> required by the federal government." Yale publicly disclosed that <a href="https://admissions.yale.edu/sites/default/files/2023classprofileweb.pdf">12% of the Class of 2023</a> had a legacy affiliation.</p><p>Earlier this year, Ronald J. Daniels, the president of Johns Hopkins University, wrote an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/why-we-ended-legacy-admissions-johns-hopkins/605131/">essay in The Atlantic</a> explaining why the university chose to end legacy admissions, citing that ending "hereditary privilege in American <keyword id="6375224" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword>" would be a step towards accessible, equitable <keyword id="6355445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education">education</keyword>. In July, <a href="https://georgetownvoice.com/2020/07/15/students-petition-to-end-legacy-admissions-at-georgetown/">students and faculty at Georgetown started signing a petition</a> calling for the same.</p><p>"I never became reconciled to the prevalence of this form of hereditary privilege in American higher education," Daniels wrote. "Particularly given this country's deeply ingrained commitment to the ideals of merit and equal opportunity."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/college-admissions-cheating-scandal-full-list-people-charged-2019-3">Here's the full list of people charged in the college admissions cheating scandal, and who has pleaded guilty so far</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/lori-loughlin-felicity-huffman-college-admissions-scandal-differences-2019-4">Here's why Lori Loughlin is facing up to 40 years in prison in the college-admissions scandal while Felicity Huffman, who pleaded guilty, is facing less than a year</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/college-admissions-scandal-book-parents-arrests-reaction-2020-7">College admission scandal parents didn't realize how big the scheme was until they were all sitting in jail together and someone brought up the ringleader's name</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/colleges-tuition-free-semesters-in-wake-of-coronavirus-2020-8">As fewer students choose to enroll in the wake of coronavirus, some colleges are promising tuition-free semesters</a></li></ul>

The DOJ is suing Yale, accusing it of discriminating against Asian American and white applicants. Their claims are 'leveraging the model minority myth' to pit racial groups against each other, scholars say.

<keyword id="6354780" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karnataka">Karnataka</keyword> mandates that college students who wish to attend the classes physically must bring in the consent letter duly signed by their parents.<br /><br />Though, Karnataka is reopening colleges from November 17 onwards, the state would continue to have on-line mode of teaching as well and it will be entirely students' choice to opt physical attendance or on-line classes, the note from <keyword id="9315525" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-higher-education-department">the higher education department</keyword> stated.<br /><br />The Higher Education department has formulated the standardized operating procedure (SOPs) as per <keyword id="10249749" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-university-of-grants-commission">the University of Grants Commission</keyword> (UGC) guidelines, in order to reopen degree, engineering, and diploma colleges in the state from November 17 onwards.<br /><br />Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwatha Narayana said apart from these the SOPs, the colleges will also have to follow guidelines like cleansing of buildings, entrance, furniture, teaching materials by sanitizers. "Covid-19 test for teaching faculty, students, and non-teaching staff is mandatory," he said.<br /><br />He added that while conducting the physical classes social distance needs to be maintained by taking into account the total number of students and the available total number of classrooms as per the guidelines of the health department and the <keyword id="10249748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="present-advisories">present advisories</keyword>.<br /><br />"Teaching, practical and project classes should be conducted in a staggered manner if it is necessary," he said.<br /><br />He added that the teaching faculty will prepare the study materials required for the duration of one month based on each period/session and compulsorily send it to concerned students via Telegram/ <keyword id="10249747" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp/e-mail">WhatsApp/E-mail</keyword>.<br /><br />"These study materials can be in the form of Video Lectures, PowerPoint Presentations, E-Notes, E-Books, Audio Books, Practice Questions, etc. It is also mandatory to upload the same study materials to the website of the college," he explained.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-is-90-effective-in-preventing-coronavirus-in-those-who-havent-been-infected-ever-before/articleshow/79130097.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective in preventing coronavirus in those who haven’t been infected ever before, shows data from latest trials</a></strong><b><br /> <br /> </b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mm-q2-earnings-tomorrow-profit-likely-to-fall-19-percent-but-tractor-sales-may-help-revenue/articleshow/79129620.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"><strong>Strong tractor sales may cushion M&amp;M’s revenue but profit is likely to remain under pressure, say analysts</strong></a><br />

Parents' consent for Karnataka students mandatory to attend college

<ul class="summary-list"><li>More than one year ago, the federal government announced relief measures for student loan borrowers.</li><li>Monthly payments were halted and interest rates stopped accruing amid the COVID-19 national emergency.</li><li>Eight borrowers share with Insider what a year without student loan payments has meant for them. </li></ul><p>Despite a year of unrelenting hardships, Aliyah Heinze-Giardello, 36, found a bright spot amid the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic: She was able to wipe out more than half of her credit card debt. </p><p>Over the past 12 months, she contributed $6,000 toward her credit card debt, completely paying off a card and a half, a financial win made possible by the $500 leftover in her bank account at the end of each month. </p><p>That additional monthly money didn't come from a second source of income, nor was Heinze-Giardello the recipient of a large inheritance. The extra funds were what the project manager typically paid toward her <keyword id="35522" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="student-loans">student loans</keyword> each month - funds that were suddenly freed up thanks to America's year without student loan payments.</p><p>In March 2020, <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/delivering-president-trumps-promise-secretary-devos-suspends-federal-student-loan-payments-waives-interest-during-national-emergency">the Department of Education announced</a> temporary relief measures for all ED-owned federal student loans amid the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic. Later that month, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cares-act-stimulus-checks-impact-saved-12million-poverty-boosted-economy-2020-7">the CARES Act</a> suspended student loan payments, stopped collections on defaulted loans, and halted accruing interest rates through September 2020. The measures were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-does-student-loan-relief-extension-work-2020-8">extended</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forbearance-extended-until-the-end-of-january-devos-2020-12">three more times</a> and are now slated to run through September 2021.</p><p>With nearly $60,000 in student loans from an art degree acquired a decade ago, Heinze-Giardello's income-based repayment plan regularly drew about $500 from her bank account each month.</p><p>But a year spent redirecting that money toward her credit cards has not only left her in less debt, it has also improved her credit score - a necessary perk as she prepares to buy a house in the near future.</p><p>"I've never had an excellent credit score before," she said. "I don't even know what to do with it, but it's nice having that freedom."</p><h2><strong>Heinze-Giardello is just one of the 44 million Americans who benefited from the Education Departments' year of leniency. </strong></h2><p>Americans <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/22/us-student-debt-has-increased-by-more-than-100percent-over-past-10-years.html">owe over $1.7 trillion in student loan debt</a> spread out across more than 44 million borrowers - an ever-growing amount that has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/22/us-student-debt-has-increased-by-more-than-100percent-over-past-10-years.html">increased more than 100% over the past decade.</a> The average borrower owes $32,731, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2017-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2016-education-debt-loans.htm">according to the Federal Reserve</a>, and prior to the moratorium, <a href="https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/">the average payment was $300.</a></p><p>Insider spoke to eight student loan borrowers across the county, ranging in age from 22 to 45, about what the past year without student loan payments has meant for their survival and success.</p><div type="image" title="AP20281389054160" height="2019" width="4038" msid="81762589" hostid="261"></div><p>Rachel Lancaster, a 33-year-old proposal writer in Jeffersonville, Indiana, said she "heard angels singing Hallelujah" when she found out payments would be temporarily halted on her $63,000 in loans.</p><p>"There's less stress for worrying about over-drafting on my bank account," Lancaster said. "I've noticed far fewer incidents of that." </p><p>The extra $200 to $300 she saved each month went toward fixing up her home and taking care of her pets, she told Insider. But the additional monthly money was also a saving grace when the pandemic hit close to home and her husband lost his job.</p><p>"He was on unemployment making less than what he was making at his position," Lancaster said. "So that would have been highly stressful."</p><h2><strong>Borrowers told Insider that a year without payments has been like a 'weight off their shoulders.'</strong></h2><p>For Rachel Bussett, 45, an attorney and small business owner in Oklahoma City, a year without payments has meant more "breathing room" during a difficult year.</p><p>"My goal is to die owing Sallie Mae money," said Bussett, who has approximately $140,000 in <keyword id="1738329" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Student-Loan-Debt">student loan debt</keyword>, including Parent Plus loans she's taken out for her daughters' schooling. "And I only say that half-jokingly."</p><p>When her husband lost his job in April, the halted loan payments helped the family survive the pandemic. </p><div type="image" title="AP21085640882527" height="2736" width="5472" msid="81762590" hostid="261"></div><p>"Basically what I would have paid in student loans is what he earns post-tax," she said. "We were able to stay afloat because I wasn't having to pay $1,200 or $1,500 a month."</p><p>Without the <keyword id="166189" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Department-of-Education">Department of Education</keyword>'s extensions, Bussett said she likely would have had to default on her loans or lay off employees at her business.</p><p>Vue Xiong, a 38-year-old estimator in Minnesota with approximately $20,000 in student loans, said he "breathed a sigh of relief" when he found out a hold had been played on payments.</p><p>"Holy crap, I can breathe. I can stop for a minute and say 'okay, this month I think I can pay it' or I can take care of this other bill," he said. "</p><h2><strong>This year has been a game-changer for people trying to pay down the principal on their loans.</strong></h2><p>Gina Sabia, 29, an elementary school music teacher in Puyallup, Washington, and her husband who is also a teacher, have a combined $70,000 in student debt. Once the couple knew their jobs were safe, Sabia said they decided to keep making their monthly payments despite the reprieve, in order to make a significant dent in their debt.</p><p>Without accruing interest rates each month, Sabia said she's been able to knock off nearly $2,000 in principal on her $15,000 over the past year. Her husband has been doing the same.</p><p>"It's been incredible," she said. "It feels like we're actually making a difference."</p><p>Kelly Tresick, 31, an account executive in Chicago, graduated in 2012 with $29,000 in student loans - an amount she said isn't "actually that bad" - and by the time the pandemic began, she had whittled her debt down to about $5,000.</p><p>When payments and interest rates were halted, she said she saw an opportunity. Tresick and her husband created a plan of attack: continue to make their monthly payments to pay down the principal, while also saving as much money as possible in case "the unexpected happened." </p><p>Her strategy worked. She's paid $3,500 directly to the principal in the last year, leaving her with only $1,500 in student debt. As soon as the government announces interest rates will be returning, Tresick said she'll take that money she put into savings and apply it to those last remaining dollars.</p><p>"We feel good," Tresick said. "We're so close to that finish line."</p><p>Xiong, too, said he knows he's been fortunate to be able to make principal payments sporadically over the past 12 months.</p><p>"Right now there's no interest accumulating on it. You can knock down a couple hundred a year," Xiong said. "I was very fortunate that I was able to pay here and there. But some people aren't so lucky."</p><h2><strong>Some have directed the extra money toward paying off other debts in their lives</strong></h2><p>One 34- year-old borrower, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of her work, is a lawyer with $277,000 in student loans after three degrees and two forbearances. It wasn't until law school that her debt became "astronomical," she said. </p><p>Despite her full-time job as a prosecutor, she told Insider she was on the hunt for a second, part-time job before the pandemic began in order to pay off credit card debt she had accumulated while taking the Bar years ago. </p><p>But between gas money saved from working at home and extra income saved from no student loan payments, she said she's had an additional $1,000 in her bank account at the end of each month - money she's applied eagerly to her other debts.</p><div type="image" title="AP21064764810888" height="1998" width="3997" msid="81762594" hostid="261"></div><p>Last March, she had $11,000 in credit card debt. One year later, she said that figure is sitting around $4,000.</p><p>"The year without payment has allowed me not to have to [get a second job]," she said. </p><h2><strong>Multiple borrowers said the money they've saved this year has them considering big life steps that once seemed elusive.</strong></h2><p>Sabia and her husband in Washington state are lucky to already own their home. But the couple is thinking of starting a family soon - a step that Sabia said would require purchasing a bigger home.</p><p>"I  think paying off student debt is one of the last things I think of when I think of what our future is going to look like," Sabia said. "How many kids can we afford with this payment? Can we afford to buy a bigger house?"</p><p>The 34-year-old lawyer, too, said she dreams of one day owning her own home. Paying off more than half of her credit card debt this year has meant she's one step closer to making that dream a reality. </p><p>"As far as being a homeowner, did I ever think that was going to be a dream? Maybe when I was 50 or 60. I never thought it might be able to happen in my late 30s or early 40s," she said.</p><p>Tresick, in Chicago, and her husband are also in the market for a new house. The pair got married in 2020 and the pause in student loan payments helped the couple put more money toward the wedding, Tresick said. Now, they're eager to pay off the last of their student debt and take the next big step in their lives. </p><p>Olivia Nunez, 22, is gearing up for a slightly different next step. </p><p>The senior at DePaul University will graduate in May with around $18,000 in student loans. She's already nervous about entering the job market during the pandemic, but the year without interest accruing on her loans, as well as the possibility of another extension of halted payments, has her feeling less overwhelmed as she looks to her future.</p><p>"It made me so feel relieved that I can just focus on my studies and devote myself completely to that instead of just job searching," Nunez said.</p><div type="image" title="In this June 20, 2019, photo a student works in the library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. Those who graduate college with student loans owe close to $30,000 on average, according to the most recent data from the Institute for College Access &amp;amp; Success. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)" height="2328" width="4656" msid="81762597" hostid="261"></div><p>Up until this month, Lancaster, the proposal writer from Indiana, said she's been taking full advantage of the halted payments, spending the freed-up money on home repairs and saving the rest to try and secure a financial stable future as the couple starts to consider having children. </p><p>"Part of the reason we have only pets right now is because financially, with paying our student loans, it's a burden if you plan to have children at any point," Lancaster said. "It can be a burden to people who have to worry about making $200 to $600 payments each month, so that could be a reason why a lot of us are delaying."</p><h2><strong>But September is looming.</strong></h2><p>The original student loan relief measures were set to expire at the end of January 2021, but one of President Joe Biden's first acts as President was extending the Department of Education measures again - this time through September 2021.</p><p>All eight borrowers lamented the eventual return of monthly payments and irritating interest rates. Most expressed their hopes for another extension or even eventual forgiveness. They all said they've been paying careful attention to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-benefits-of-student-debt-forgiveness-2020-12">national conversation</a> that has sprung up in recent months about the possibility of wide-scale, federal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-quarter-of-americans-support-full-erasure-2021-2">student loan forgiveness.</a></p><p>"You cannot get ahead," said Bussett. "What if my business hasn't rebounded? What if the kid I got coming out of college isn't able to support herself and I have to help?" </p><p>Lancaster, who said she's especially eager for another extension of the relief measures, suggested a simple solution.</p><p>"Let's delay it as long as possible," she said. "I think at this rate we keep extending, you might as well let it go...forget they exist."</p>

A year without student loans: What the past 12 months of halted payments have meant for borrowers across the country

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump/047c66a50a194c1b931d3e642f1337d5/10/0">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span></p><p class="caption">President-elect Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos shake hands at Trump National Golf Club.</p></div><p></p></div></div>During his campaign, President-elect Trump repeatedly hit out at the <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/697613947655086080">role of federal government in education</a>, arguing instead for increased local control of schools, and hinting that the Department of <keyword id="6355445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Education">Education</keyword> (ED) should be abolished.</p><p>In his book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015ND2B0K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1">Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America</a>," Trump writes: <span>"A lot of people believe the Department of Education should just be eliminated. Get rid of it. If we don't eliminate it completely, we certainly need to cut its power and reach." </span></p><p>Last week, Trump tapped Betsy DeVos for secretary of education, signaling that the department will likely remain, though the cabinet-level position will be steered by an advocate for alternatives to traditional public schooling.</p><p>The secretary of education, as the head of the ED, advises and executes legislation over education policy at both the K-12 and post-secondary level.</p><p>Created in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the ED is the smallest cabinet-level department. Its main functions include administering federal assistance to schools and enforcing federal education laws. The secretary of education is fifteenth in line for succession to the presidency.</p><p>The department collects data and does research on student outcomes and success, providing national figures which allow comparison between states.</p><p>It also provides funding to local school districts. The Title I program, for example, provides federal funding to schools with large numbers of low-income students.</p><p>The ED, through its sub-agency the Office for Civil Rights, also ensures that discrimination does not occur in schools based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Current secretary of education John B. King.</p></div><p></p></div></div>For example, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal discrimination <a href="http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/141218-dojcomplaintltrGRIMM.pdf">complaint</a> with the Department of Education on behalf of Gavin Grimm. Grimm, a transgender student, claims he was discriminated against by his school district who will not allow him to use the bathroom that corresponds with his gender identity.</p><p>At the collegiate level, too, the ED handles issues of discrimination. Last year, a alliance of Asian American groups filed a federal complaint with the ED against Harvard University. The groups claim that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-wang-says-ivy-league-discriminates-against-asians-2015-5">Harvard and other Ivy League schools use racial quotas</a> that discriminate against Asians in the admissions process.</p><p>The Office for Civil Rights is also responsible for investigating Title IX - the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination - violations. <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2861781-List-of-195-Higher-Ed-Institutions-Under-Title.html">The ED currently has more than 200 open investigations</a> into sexual assaults on college campuses.</p><p>Lastly, one of the largest, and certainly the most costly, areas of responsibility for the ED is the administering of federal student aid. The Pell Grant program - student aid that does not need to be repaid - was the largest area of spending for the department for 2016 with <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2016/01/14/federal-education-funding-where-does-the-money-go">about $22.5 billion spent.</a></p><p>In her home state of Michigan, DeVos has championed charter school and school voucher initiatives, but has not waded into any issues of higher education. She is the first choice for secretary of education without any substantial higher education experience.</p><p>While it is possible to predict some of the primary and secondary schooling issues that DeVos will support in her role, it is less apparent the direction she will take in higher education.</p><p>"I have no idea where DeVos stands on early childhood or higher education issues, and the latter, especially, is gigantic, with Washington furnishing tens-of-billions of dollars in student loans, among other higher ed matters," Neal McCluskey, at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/its-devos-ed-boss-actually-lets-hope-not">wrote in a blog post.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-eat-breakfast-lebron-james-2016-11">Here's what 11 successful people eat for breakfast</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ppZW5xNzE6PKFDBvY_XLeUyw1i98uxmD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Trump once called for the Department of Education to be eliminated - here's what the federal agency actually does

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Betsy DeVos.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The fight over Betsy DeVos' nomination to be <keyword id="6355445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Education">education</keyword> secretary - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/betsy-devos-approved-nomination-secretary-of-education-2017-2" target="_blank">just barely approved by the Senate</a> with the tie-breaking help of Vice President Mike Pence - has, in the public debate, been mostly a fight over K-12 education policy.</p><p>I find the intensity of feeling on both sides about DeVos' views on K-12 a little baffling, given the limited role the federal government plays in K-12 education and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/24/the-bottom-line-on-charter-school-studies/?utm_term=.f3cf3792eef9">apparently similar results</a> studies have shown are produced by traditional public and charter schools. Contrary to <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/442460/devos-ed-dept-wont-transform-education">the hopes of her fans and the fears of her detractors</a>, this is not an area where DeVos is likely to have large effects on education outcomes either way.</p><p>When I worry about the Trump-DeVos Education Department, I worry about higher education, an area where the federal government plays a much larger policy role than in K-12.</p><p>The department, by making rules about what higher-education institutions can rely on federal grants and loans to pay their students' tuition, plays an important role in ensuring that students and taxpayers get good value for their money that is spent on higher education. The Obama administration has been aggressive in this area, including by forcing the closure of some scammy for-profit colleges.</p><p>President Donald Trump, of course, is the ex-proprietor <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-university-settlement-focus-country-2016-11" target="_blank">of a scammy for-profit "university."</a> One of his close advisers on education, Jerry Falwell Jr., is the president of a large, low-quality, non-profit university <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/upshot/with-falwell-as-education-adviser-his-own-college-could-benefit.html?_r=0">with a major online component</a>.</p><p>Given these associations, I do not have great confidence in Trump's education department to focus on ensuring that colleges deliver value in exchange for tuition. Failing to do so would be costly both to students and to the taxpayers who would be on the hook for grants and defaulted loans to students.</p><p>This isn't an area where I think DeVos herself is likely to have especially nefarious instincts - but her hearing also did not generate confidence that it is an area where she would have especially good instincts, either.</p><p>I will be watching her Education Department mostly to see whether it allows higher-education scams to run rampant.</p><p class="tagline">This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-press-secretary-disputes-low-turnout-inauguration-sean-spicer-womens-march-2017-1">'The largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period': Trump press secretary disputes reports of low turnout at inauguration</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JuMHM0OTE6UEZ3hX-oMWVUGvf1HOZhVK" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The real worry with Betsy DeVos as education secretary isn't what has dominated public debate

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Education Department announced it's moving forward with the broad student-debt relief process.</li><li>The next step includes negotiations with stakeholders on the relief.</li></ul><p>President Joe Biden's Education Department just took the next step on its second attempt to get broad student-debt relief to millions of borrowers.</p><p>On Friday, the Education Department released a <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-1--issue-paper-student-loan-reliefom-committee.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">paper</a> outlining what it is considering as it develops its new plan for broad student-loan forgiveness. At the end of June, the Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">struck down Biden's first plan to cancel student debt</a> using the HEROES Act of 2003, which allows the education secretary to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency.</p><p>The Supreme Court ruled the HEROES Act was the improper law to carry out relief as a result of the pandemic, so the department announced it would be trying again <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-will-take-cancel-student-debt-higher-education-act-2023-7">using the Higher Education Act of 1965</a>, which does not require the existence of a national emergency.</p><p>The Higher Education Act requires the administration go through <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-timeline-for-biden-new-student-debt-relief-2023-7">the negotiated rulemaking process</a>, which includes a series of negotiation sessions and periods of public comment. The department's Friday announcement released the names of the negotiators, along with topics the negotiations will focus on in the upcoming sessions.</p><p>"The Biden-Harris Administration has taken unprecedented action to fix the broken student loan system and deliver record amounts of student debt relief," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-moves-forward-student-debt-relief-negotiated-rulemaking-deliver-support-many-borrowers-possible-quickly-possible">statement</a>. "Now, we are diligently moving through the regulatory process to advance debt relief for even more borrowers. Today, after considering more than 26,000 public comments on how to tailor this relief, we are releasing this additional information about this effort."</p><p>Here's what you need to know about the process, and what the negotiations will look like.</p><h2>Who are the negotiators?</h2><p>The Education Department released a list of <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/student-loan-debt-relief-committee-list.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">26 selected negotiators </a>to participate in the upcoming sessions, the first of which will be held on October 10 and 11.</p><p>In July, the department <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-timeline-for-biden-new-student-debt-relief-2023-7">began the process of seeking nominations </a>for people to serve on the negotiating committee. They were nominated by the public and selected by the department. The nominee categories include civil rights organizations, legal assistance organizations, state attorneys general, representatives of federal servicers, and student-loan borrowers.</p><p>The department said it is still seeking nominations for two constituency groups: state officials, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.</p><h2>What will be discussed at negotiations?</h2><p>The Education Department released a <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-1--issue-paper-student-loan-reliefom-committee.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">paper</a> negotiators will begin discussing during the October sessions. The Higher Education Act states the education secretary can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to student debt, and the negotiators will discuss the scope of that authority.</p><p>The paper also said the department is "considering adding regulations on the circumstances under which the Department may waive all or part of federal student loan debts," suggesting it is looking at expanding the scope of the education secretary's authority.</p><p>The department highlighted five key groups of borrowers it wants negotiators to discuss when considering the new plan for broad debt relief:</p><ol><li><p>Borrowers who have seen their balances grow due to accrual of unpaid interest, leaving them with balances higher than what they originally borrowers</p></li><li><p>Borrowers who are eligible for forgiveness under programs like income-driven repayment but did not apply for those programs</p></li><li><p>Borrowers who took on debt for a school that did not prepare them to earn enough money post-grad</p></li><li><p>Borrowers who entered repayment before some certain benefits became available</p></li><li><p>Borrowers who are experiencing financial hardship and don't benefit from relief programs</p></li></ol><h2>Can I participate if I'm not a negotiator?</h2><p>Yes. Negotiations will be livestreamed, and the department will publish a link to view the sessions closer to the date. Members of the public will have the opportunity to submit comments at the end of each day, and once a draft of the rule is published next year, there will be another period for public comment at that time.</p>

Biden's Education Department is taking the next step to get broad student-loan forgiveness to millions of borrowers. Here's what you need to know.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biden is going through negotiated rulemaking to implement his new student-debt relief plan.</li><li>It recently took his Education Department 15 months to go through that process.</li></ul><p>Student-loan forgiveness might not reach borrowers anytime soon.</p><p>After the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">struck down President Joe Biden's first attempt to cancel student debt</a> using the HEROES Act of 2003, the Education Department <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-blocked-biden-use-higher-education-act-2023-6">announced it would be trying again</a> — this time using the Higher Education Act of 1965.</p><p>The HEROES Act allowed the administration to move quickly with the relief, as the law said the education secretary could waive or modify student loans in connection with a national emergency. While the high court ruled that Biden overreached in his authority by using that law for broad student-debt relief, it did not rule out <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-struck-down-will-biden-try-again-relief-2023-6">the Higher Education Act as an alternative route</a> to get debt cancellation to borrowers. </p><p>The law <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-struck-down-will-biden-try-again-relief-2023-6">says</a> the Education Department can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to federal student debt. But that law requires Biden to go through the negotiated-rulemaking process. Before the department implements a policy, it has to post its proposal on the Federal Register to allow the public to comment on it. That initial proposal is known as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Once the department publishes its proposal, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-biden-new-plan-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-hearing-2023-7">it holds a public hearing</a> on it and then undergoes a series of negotiations with stakeholders and experts until all parties reach a consensus on the regulation.</p><p>That process has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-will-take-cancel-student-debt-higher-education-act-2023-7">historically taken a long time</a>, meaning that the new attempt at broad student-debt relief may not arrive for a while.</p><p>There is no set timeline for the department to complete this process, and it has varied in the past. But under the Biden administration, the fastest negotiated-rulemaking process for a series of higher-education reforms <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/10/2021-16953/negotiated-rulemaking-committee-negotiator-nominations-and-schedule-of-committee-meetings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started in August 2021</a>, and the official rule was published <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/01/2022-23447/institutional-eligibility-under-the-higher-education-act-of-1965-as-amended-student-assistance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at the beginning of November</a>, totaling about 15 months.</p><p>Of course, the timeline for this new plan for student-debt relief could be quicker, and Education Department officials have said they will work as fast as they can under the process to get relief to borrowers. The timeline also does not account for any litigation that could arise.</p><p>"We want to help borrowers who were let down by the fundamental bargain of federal student loans — that investments in yourself and your education will help lead you to a better life," Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-biden-new-plan-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-hearing-2023-7">said during a Tuesday public hearing</a>. "By those who have seen their debts get out of hand, even as they make the payments we ask of them, we will help as many borrowers as possible, and we will work as quickly as possible under the law."</p><h2>What comes next</h2><p>The department <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-biden-new-plan-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-hearing-2023-7">held the public hearing</a> on Biden's new debt relief plan on Tuesday, during which department officials heard from borrowers, advocates, and experts on how they thought the proposal should be shaped.</p><p>It's now in the process of selecting negotiators. Negotiators are nominated by the public and selected by the department, which will solicit nominations via the Federal Register. According to the website, negotiators could include "students, legal assistance organizations that represent students, institutions of higher education, state student grant agencies, guaranty agencies, lenders, secondary markets, loan servicers, guaranty agency servicers, collection agencies, state agencies, and accrediting agencies."</p><p>Once negotiating committees are formed, they will meet for three sessions at monthly intervals, and each session usually lasts three days, but the number of sessions could change depending on how the negotiations play out. For negotiators to reach a consensus on the debt-relief proposal, every member of the committee must agree with the final rule. Once that happens, the department will again publish the text of the rule on the Federal Register for public comment, and it will consider the comments before publishing the final rule.</p><p>During the negotiated rulemaking, the department is set to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/do-i-have-to-resume-student-loan-payments-debt-relief-2023-7">facilitate the return to repayment for borrowers beginning in October</a>, with interest starting to accrue again in September. There will be a 12-month "on-ramp" period during which borrowers who miss payments will not be reported to credit agencies, along with a new income-driven repayment plan to lower borrowers' monthly payments.</p>

Student-loan borrowers could be waiting over a year for Biden to implement his new plan for broad debt relief

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biden wants to cancel student debt under a new law after the Supreme Court struck down his plan.</li><li>He said he would use the Higher Education Act, which requires hearings and public comment.</li></ul><p>It's unclear who would get student-loan forgiveness <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-struck-down-will-biden-try-again-relief-2023-6">under President Joe Biden's new plan</a>.</p><p>Last week, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">struck down Biden's first plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt</a> using the HEROES Act of 2003, which allows the education secretary to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency, like COVID-19.</p><p>It's not the end of the road. Just hours after the court handed down the decision, Biden announced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-forgiveness-blocked-biden-use-higher-education-act-2023-6">new plan to cancel student debt using the Higher Education Act of 1965</a>, which doesn't require a national emergency for relief.</p><p>The Higher Education Act <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-cancel-student-debt-use-higher-education-act-heroes-2022-11" rel="">says</a> the US Education Department can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to federal student debt. The education secretary, Miguel Cardona, announced on Friday that he had started the negotiated-rulemaking process — which includes hearings and public comment — to get the ball rolling on using that law.</p><p>The HEROES Act, in contrast, did not require negotiated rulemaking and would have allowed the department to move through implementation much quicker. Given the new standards surrounding the Higher Education Act, it's not yet guaranteed that the same borrowers who benefitted from Biden's first proposal would qualify for the president's new plan.</p><p>"The Department will design the parameters of the program with public participation over the coming months," the department's <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/debt-relief-info" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAQ</a> stated. "However, the Secretary has directed his staff to explore policy options for debt relief that will help as many people as possible."</p><p>It's unclear what those policy options would be at this point, but the department's FAQ said that "the Secretary has begun a new rulemaking process to consider other ways to provide debt relief to as many working and middle-class borrowers as possible."</p><p>Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy director of the National Economic Council, also said during a Friday press briefing that "one of the things about the rulemaking process is that we can't actually prejudge its outcome. Part of how we do this process is that we initiate it, we put a proposal on the table, we work with stakeholders to get their input. That ends up shaping the scope of the proposal."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-will-take-cancel-student-debt-higher-education-act-2023-7">The new process for implementing Biden's debt-relief plan</a> under the Higher Education Act <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-will-take-cancel-student-debt-higher-education-act-2023-7">could take months</a>, and borrowers are still scheduled to resume payments in October. To provide additional relief, Cardona announced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/do-i-have-to-resume-student-loan-payments-debt-relief-2023-7">12-month "on-ramp" period</a> following the payment resumption to ensure that borrowers who missed payments were not reported to credit agencies. The department has also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/do-i-have-to-resume-student-loan-payments-debt-relief-2023-7">finalized its new income-driven repayment plan</a> — known as the SAVE plan — which is expected to make borrowers' monthly payments cheaper.</p><p>Given the prolonged timeline for relief, some Democratic lawmakers want Biden to consider additional measures so borrowers do not have to resume payments without the loan forgiveness they were counting on. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told CNN on Sunday that "people should not be incurring interest during this 12-month on-ramp period."</p><p>"So, I highly urge the administration to consider suspending those interest payments," she said.</p><p>Rep. Ro Khanna urged Biden to extend the student-loan-payment pause again under the Higher Education Act — even though the debt-ceiling bill the president recently signed into law codified the end of that pause.</p><p>"Now that SCOTUS has blocked student debt relief, <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@POTUS</a> must use his executive authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel up to $50,000 of debt and extend the pause on student loans," Khanna <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1674842685213900804" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on Twitter. "Student debt is crushing young people. We can't abandon them."<a href="https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1674842685213900804" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p>

Student-loan borrowers who qualified for the first debt-relief plan are not yet guaranteed relief under Biden's new route

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="11897874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education-department" source="Orion">Education Department</keyword> announced steps to protect <keyword id="12148806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taxpayers" source="Orion">taxpayers</keyword> from school closure costs.</li><li>It requires companies that own schools to sign an agreement that will hold them liable for costs.</li></ul><p>Taxpayers may not have to worry about footing the bill for unexpected school closures anymore.</p><p>On Wednesday, the Education Department <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-steps-hold-institutions-accountable-taxpayer-losses-0">announced</a> new steps to ensure that companies that own colleges that unexpectedly shut down are held liable for all costs owed to the federal government, including closed school loan discharges and borrower defense to repayment, which is a form of loan forgiveness granted to students defrauded by for-profit schools. </p><p>"If a company owns, controls, or profits from a college, it should also be on the hook if the institution fails students,"  Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement. "Today's steps will ensure taxpayers aren't held liable for colleges that fail their students or close their doors, especially without the opportunity for students to finish their courses of study." </p><p>Oftentimes, when schools shut down, its students are left with big student debt loads but no degree. The Education Department might then repay those students in the form of loan forgiveness, using taxpayer money to front the cost.</p><p>Wednesday's announcement would change that by requiring any organization with at least 50% interest in a non-public college to sign the school's Program Participation Agreement, ensuring that controlling entities, and not just the defunct school, are held responsible for taxpayer costs when the school shuts down.</p><p>According to the announcement, individual executives that manage the colleges will not be held personally accountable for school closures and other related costs, which falls short of what some advocates and lawmakers have been hoping the Education Department would implement.</p><p>The Education Department told Insider there are some limitations under the Higher Education Act when it comes to individual liability, but the department can hold executives personally accountable in certain circumstances.</p><p>In August, House Education Chair Bobby Scott <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bobby-scott-cardona-for-profit-college-exeuctives-accountable-fraud-debt-2021-8">urged</a> the Education Department to hold the executives of defunct for-profit colleges, like Corinthian and ITT Technical Institutes, personally liable for money owed to the federal government, and during a November hearing, Federal Student Aid head Richard Cordray <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-richard-cordray-for-proft-executives-financially-accountable-2021-11">told</a> Scott that he "absolutely agrees" with that notion.</p><p>"We see eye to eye on this," Cordray said. "We absolutely agree. More needs to be done to prevent people from abusing these student aid programs, from cheating taxpayers, from cheating students."</p><p>Scott at the time also referred to a <a href="https://www.defendstudents.org/news/body/docket/100-Day-Docket-Personal-Liability-Report.pdf">paper</a> from student advocacy group Student Defense, which detailed how the Education Department can use its authority under the Higher Education Act to ensure institutions and executives have "skin in the game" and "better protect taxpayers and lead institutions of higher education towards less risky and predatory behavior."</p><p>Vice President and Chief Counsel of Student Defense Dan Zibel told Insider the group appreciates "the Department's first steps towards holding corporate investors accountable."</p><p>"It is imperative, however, that the Department neither weaken its authority to hold accountable investors with smaller ownership stakes nor waiver from the Department's commitment to Congress that it will hold individuals—and not just corporate investors—personally liable for harming students or the government," he added.</p><p>One of the most prominent defunct for-profit schools, ITT Tech, left taxpayers on the hook for $460 million in closed-school discharges in 2016, <a href="https://gizmodo.com/itt-tech-s-collapse-might-cost-taxpayers-half-a-billion-1793445747">according</a> to the Education Department. That's why, in recent years, lawmakers and advocates have been calling for the responsibility to fall on the companies and executives — not those who had no role in the school closure.</p><p>Along with Wednesday's action, the department has recently taken steps to account for abrupt school closures and predatory actions by for-profit institutions. Most recently, the department announced <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-devry-itt-tech-westwood-minnesota-business-globe-2022-2">$415 million</a> in relief for borrowers defrauded by private institutions, bringing its closed school and borrower defense discharge total to $3.2 billion.</p>

Taxpayers won't have to foot the bill when colleges shut down anymore — but neither will the schools' top executives, Biden's Education Department says

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>The US Department of <keyword id="6355445" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Education">Education</keyword> has scrapped long-standing plans to critically evaluate colleges, instead pivoting to create a consumer-focused tool with access to reams of higher ed data.</p><p>"The department is now promising to produce a customizable, consumer-oriented website that won't include any evaluations of colleges but will contain what one official described as 'more data than ever before,'" <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Department-Now-Plans/231137/">according to Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Goldie Blumenstyk</a>. "In effect, it will be a ratings system without any ratings."</p><p>President Obama first announced the plan almost two years ago, saying, "What we want to do is rate them on who's offering the best value so students and taxpayers get a bigger bang for their buck," <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/25/education-department-says-rating-system-will-be-consumer-tool-rather-comparison">Inside Higher Ed notes</a>. That plan seemed to shift away from a strict rating system in December 2014, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-colleges-will-likely-be-evaluated-under-the-governments-new-rating-system-2014-12">when the education department announced it was considering</a> sorting colleges into three broad categories - high-performing, low-performing, and schools in the middle.</p><p>Notably, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-white-house-releases-snapshot-of-plan-to-rate-us-colleges-2014-12">this system would have been tied to federal aid</a>, which no longer seems to be the case, as IHE points out.</p><p>In December, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-colleges-will-likely-be-evaluated-under-the-governments-new-rating-system-2014-12">the education department revealed 11 potential metrics for evaluating colleges</a>, which look at qualities such as affordability, first-generation student enrollment, and graduation rate. These will still form the basis of the consumer data tool that the department hopes to unveil this summer, IHE reports.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-lebron-james-spends-money-nba-salary-2015-4">How LeBron James spends his money</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="A1Y2VudDqRdoRbXU6D5a41TZ_JCLE1oQ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The Obama administration has scrapped plans to rate colleges

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A group of Democrats urged the Education Department to expand relief for parent PLUS borrowers.</li><li>They cited the SAVE income-driven repayment plan as an additional avenue for relief.</li></ul><p>A group of Democratic lawmakers want more relief for parents who chose to take on debt for their kids.</p><p>On Thursday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen led eight of his colleagues — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — in sending a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_sec_cardona_on_parent_plus_borrowers_21524.pdf">letter</a> to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona regarding parent PLUS borrowers. Parent PLUS loans are a type of loan a parent can take out in their own name to help finance their child's education, and they can borrow up to the full cost of attendance.</p><p>However, PLUS loans have the highest interest rate of all federal loans, and they can be particularly burdensome for borrowers who might not have the means to pay it off after their child graduates. The burden increases on parents because, as the lawmakers wrote, options for federal relief on PLUS loans "remain extremely limited."</p><p>"We write to you out of deep concern that Parent PLUS borrowers have been left out of key student loan actions the Administration has taken," the Democrats said.</p><p>They pointed to the Education Department's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-borrowers-apply-income-driven-repayment-save-plan-2023-7">new SAVE income-driven repayment plan</a>, established over the summer to give most federal borrowers cheaper payments with a shorter timeline for loan forgiveness. Parent PLUS borrowers are not eligible for the plan, and the Democrats requested that the department consider amending existing regulations to expand eligibility to those borrowers.</p><p>Another avenue for relief, the lawmakers wrote, could be through the department's second attempt at loan forgiveness under the Higher Education Act of 1965. The department is holding its fourth negotiation session on February 22 and 23 to discuss a category for relief that would include borrowers experiencing financial hardship, and the Democrats are urging parent PLUS borrowers to be in that category.</p><p>"Without addressing the intergenerational debt experienced by families with Parent PLUS loans, the Biden Administration will fall short of its commitments to fix our nation's broken student loan system and to advance affordable access to higher education for all," they wrote.</p><p>The Education Department on Thursday released the draft proposal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-who-will-qualify-financial-hardship-debt-cancellation-2024-2">outlining how it would determine which borrowers qualify for relief under hardship</a>, and parent PLUS borrowers were not included.</p><p>Some advocates have also previously pushed for the department to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/are-parent-plus-student-loan-borrowers-included-save-plan-naacp-2023-10">expand eligibility for relief programs to PLUS loans</a>. NAACP President Derrick Johnson and National Youth Director Wisdom Cole wrote a letter to Cardona in October asking him to use "existing authority to fully extend all income-driven repayment plans to Parent PLUS borrowers."</p><p>However, a senior administration official <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-are-excluded-from-new-student-loan-income-driven-repayment-2023-1">told reporters last year</a> that the Higher Education Act does not allow parent PLUS loans to be repaid on an income-driven repayment plan, and it was not considering any changes to the law at that time.</p>

Parents who took on student debt for their kids have 'extremely limited' options for loan forgiveness and cheaper monthly payments — but Biden can change that, 9 Democratic lawmakers say

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