Published: October 2018

A major victory for cheated students on borrower defense regulations

A federal judge sided with consumer advocates and ruled that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' delay of a key student borrower protection rule was improper and unlawful. Judge Moss also rejected a request to postpone enforcement of the Borrower Defense Rule by an association of for-profit colleges. This meant the 2016 Obama-era regulation aimed at providing relief for scammed student-loan borrowers took effect immediately, despite efforts by the Department of Education and the for-profit college industry to delay it.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss sided with consumer advocates, two former students seeking relief from their loans and Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia, who challenged the Trump administration's postponement of Obama-era regulations governing "borrower defense to repayment." Later, Moss struck down an attempt by a group of private colleges to block the regulation, known as borrower defense, paving the way for it to take effect. For federal student loan borrowers who were scammed by their schools, it means more immediate access to relief from their student loans as well as the ability to more easily sue their schools.

More Information

For more information on the borrower defense court rulings, visit Consumer Action's alert page.

Click here to learn more about Consumer Action's role as amici in borrower defense litigation.

Our colleagues at Center for American Progress provide a great overview of the Department of Education's anti-students agenda.

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