Release date:
2/22/2017
AG Stein reinforces need to protect students from bad actors in for-profit colleges
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today joined attorneys general from 16 states and Washington, D.C. to send a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Elisabeth DeVos and Congressional leaders expressing their continued support of recent federal protections for students in higher education and taxpayers.
“My office receives many complaints related to for-profit colleges each year,” said AG Stein. “There are students across the state who are now in significant debt for degrees that are not helping them get jobs. We owe it to our students to have effective protection against fraud on worthless degrees.”
Highlighting how for-profit schools have harmed student borrowers, the attorneys general sent the letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Elisabeth DeVos and U.S. House and Senate leadership detailing their concerns over rolling back federal protections that would signal open season on students for some of the worst actors in the for-profit school industry.
The attorneys general pointed to a number of protections they believe should remain intact, including the Gainful Employment Rule, which ensures students who attend career training programs are able to repay their federal student loans once they graduate. They are also pushing for vigorous federal oversight of school accreditors that are tasked with providing prospective quality assurance of schools and to keep the Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule, which will provide a fair and transparent process for students who have been defrauded by their schools to apply for federal student loan relief.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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