Betsy DeVos Just Removed Obama Student Loan Protections
The Trump administration’s latest attack on the middle class just made it harder for students to pay back their student loans.
Betsy DeVos on Tuesday rolled back an Obama administration protection for student loan borrowers that reformed how student loan servicers collect debt.
Faced with the rising student loan crisis, the Obama administration put in place protections for borrowers that directed the Federal Student Aid Office to shift their focus from collecting debt to helping borrowers find ways to manage their debt and prove payment plans.
Well, the Trump administration just formally undid the Obama protections with an order from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
As Bloomberg noted, “DeVos’s move comes a week after one of the student loan industry’s main lobbies asked for Congress’s help in delaying or substantially changing the Education Department’s loan servicing plans.”
The move by the Trump administration will hurt middle-class borrowers and as David Bergeron from the Center for American Progress said, the move “will certainly increase the likelihood of default.”
And in a statement, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said “The Department of Education has decided it does not need to protect student loan borrowers.”
