President Joe Biden does not waste any time. He has accomplished 100,000,000 coronavirus vaccine shots in Americans. He also passed an historic $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package. Under that bill, he is cutting child poverty in half and jumpstarting jobs that had been sliding down a slick slope of despair. There is more, much more.
This is the latest relief action that comes from his pick for Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The former educator came on board replacing a fruit-loopy woman dabbling in the education of millions of our young people. He is all business.
Cardona is canceling 72,000 federal loans completely. The reason he is doing so is that these students were defrauded by colleges they attended. DeVos did not see the problem.
This was the Secretary of Education’s first big announcement. That will release primarily young people from their terrible financial burden. About 200,000 individuals have filed claims under the Borrower Defense to Repayment Program in the past six years. Students qualify when these unreputable colleges use “illegal and deceptive tactics to persuade them to borrow.”
Cardona released a statement that read, according to The Washington Post:
‘Borrowers deserve a simplified and fair path to relief when they have been harmed by their institution’s misconduct. A close review of these claims and the associated evidence showed these borrowers have been harmed and we will grant them a fresh start from their debt.’
Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending Toby Merrill represents borrowers and said:
‘The previous administration turned borrower defense into a total sham that was rigged to deny claims without any true consideration. The Biden-Harris administration must now address these failings or else perpetuate a system that is stacked against the very students they are supposed to protect.’
As it turned out, DeVos’ had quotas that “effectively encouraged denials.” Indeed, officials admitted there was no process to accomplish the necessary step of reconsideration. She ended up denying 94 percent of the debt relief claims.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California criticized DeVos. He accused her of undermining the deal. DeVos came up with a complex method that processed claims in relationship to median earnings in like areas of study. The bigger the difference, the more relief an applicant would receive.
The problem with DeVos’ little formula was that many students did not receive a degree, so that was not an appropriate equivalency. Her standards were impossible to meet in many circumstances. Earlier, President Barack Obama canceled the debt, because the colleges were fraudulent.
Officials were not especially pleased:
‘Under Cardona’s guidance, the department will revive the Obama-era policy. Borrowers whose claims have been approved, including those who previously received partial loan relief, will have a path to a full loan discharge. The department will reimburse any amounts paid on the loans, request credit bureaus to remove negative reporting tied to the debt and reinstate federal aid eligibility.’
Those who qualify attended for-profit schools, and those eligible for forgiveness will be notified shortly. It appears that the new policy only covers claims that were already approved, none under review. That problem is currently being assessed.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
