Tag Archives: Student Lending

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AFR in the News: Ex-federal officials form group to combat rollback of consumer protections in higher ed (Washington Post)

“A cadre of attorneys and policy advisers from the Obama administration is teaming up to do what they say Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seems incapable of doing: protecting students. ‘Rather than collaborating to get more relief to students who’ve fallen prey to industry scams, and to prevent future abuses, DeVos has chosen to make oversight more difficult and accountability harder to come by,’ said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform.”

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AFR in the News: Trump changes higher ed with rollback of consumer protections (Washington Post)

“The task force is co-chaired by Robert S. Eitel, a former attorney at for-profit college operator Bridgepoint Education, who is now senior counsel to DeVos… ‘At no point are they asking for the input of student loan borrowers or people enrolled in college,’ said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform. “The common theme here is enriching a certain number of private actors at the expense of protections for ­borrowers.”

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AFR in the News: The Education Department just froze two key protections for students (The Nation)

“The New York Times obtained draft memos showing that officials initially discussed using budgetary impact as the justification. In other words, they looked for whatever pretense could get them to stop the rule on behalf of for-profit operators. Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform, called the action ‘a slap in the face to defrauded Americans,’ and accused DeVos’s agency of placing ‘the interests of wealthy for-profit college executives ahead of students striving for a better life.’”

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AFR Statement: DeVos Decision to Delay Borrower Defense is a Slap in the Face to Students

Americans for Financial Reform strongly condemns the decision by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to abandon the victims of predatory colleges by delaying the Borrower Defense rule. This is a slap in the face to defrauded Americans, and a stunning admission by the Department of Education that they intend to place wealthy for-profit college executives ahead of students striving for a better life.

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AFR Statement: Budget Takes Aim at CFPB and Student Loan Holders

“Without exception, the proposals we’ve seen to de-fund or restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are about making it less effective at doing its job,” said Brian Marshall, policy counsel at AFR. “The agency has won relief worth $12 billion for 29 million Americans since it started work. All these proposed changes to the CFPB would do is make it easier for Wall Street and assorted predatory lenders to rip people off.”

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AFR in the News: Trump to propose scrapping beleaguered student loan forgiveness program (MarketWatch)

“Alexis Goldstein, a senior policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform… described the idea of eliminating the program as ‘horrifying,’ noting that… borrowers are struggling to manage their student debt, pushing them to put off home-buying and other financial milestones. Eliminating a forgiveness program would only make that worse, she said. ‘It seems both ill-conceived from a policy perspective and just cruel.’”

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AFR in the News: DeVos reverses Obama directives protecting student loan borrowers (Market Watch)

“’Undoing these memos is a very concerning indication of how much (Department of Education officials) value protecting borrowers versus how much they want to insulate servicers,’ said Alexis Goldstein [of] Americans for Financial Reform. ‘Is this meant to be a message that says we are less concerned with borrowers and more concerned with protecting servicers even if they made mistakes in the past?’”

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Joint Letter to Congress: 50+ Organizations Urge Congress to Keep Rules That Protect Students and Taxpayers from Waste and Fraud in Higher Education

“We believe protections for student and taxpayers should be strengthened, not scaled back. …Veterans, low-income students and students of color have been disproportionately harmed by predatory colleges. Last month, 16 organizations representing millions of military servicemembers, veterans, survivors, and military families voiced their strong support for these protections and urged Congress to fully uphold them.”

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AFR Statement: AFR applauds automatic debt discharges at ACI, calls for further action

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) applauds the news that the Department of Education will grant automatic discharges to all former students of American Career Institute (ACI) in Massachusetts. Before being confirmed, any nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education must clearly articulate plans to rapidly pursue additional automatic group discharges, to ensure that all Americans are protected from future exploitation of taxpayer-backed loans by predatory schools.