North Carolina’s attorney general and 18 other AGs are suing the U.S. Department of Education for indefinitely delaying enforcement of rules that would give protections to students who attend for-profit colleges.
The rules were finalized in November by the Obama Administration and were set to go into effect July 1. They are intended to hold accountable schools that engage in misconduct, such as false advertising and inflating their graduate employment data. The schools would have to reimburse the federal government for loan money received when the abuse occurred. Under the rules, student borrowers would also have loan forgiveness protection at those institutions.
The law suit says many for profit schools depend on the federal student loan program for 86 percent of their income and often target low-income families and students of color. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s office pointed to the numerous students in the state who were left with big loan debts when the for-profit Corinthian College abruptly closed its doors two years ago.
The lawsuit says that Education Secretary Betsy Devos did not seek public comment before delaying the rules. It says she was required to do so. The attorneys general want the court to require DeVos to implement the rules immediately.