{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://larson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/larson-murphy-blumenthal-courtney-delauro-call-department-education", "Larson, Murphy, Blumenthal, Courtney, DeLauro Call on Department of Education to Discharge Loans for Defrauded Borrowers", "2024-12-05", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "John B. Larson", "L000557", "larson.house.gov", "larson", "https://larson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Today, Reps. John B. Larson (CT-01), Joe Courtney (CT-02), and Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy called on the U.S. Department of Education to discharge student loan debt for hundreds of thousands of students who were defrauded by predatory schools.\n\nDuring the first Trump administration, defrauded borrowers\u2019 applications for debt relief were left to languish for years, and if reviewed, were often denied. In their letter, the lawmakers called for the Department to use its authority to immediately discharge debt.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration has demonstrated a commitment to supporting student borrowers and mitigating the devastating impact of student loan debt, including issuing targeted debt relief to hundreds of thousands of borrowers defrauded by predatory higher education institutions,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nThe lawmakers continued: \u201cWe urge the Department of Education to follow through on its commitment by immediately processing debt discharges for borrowers already approved for relief; issuing additional discharges for students who attended institutions with documented histories of predatory practices; and processing any outstanding borrower defense applications.\u201d\n\nSince 2022, the Department has announced group discharges for more than 1.2 million individuals who attended schools that engaged in documented fraud and misconduct, including ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges. Yet, hundreds of thousands of borrowers are still awaiting their discharges. Many additional borrowers are eligible for borrower defense group discharge because they attended schools for which the Department possesses evidence of fraud and misconduct; 400,000 borrowers have submitted individual applications for borrower defense discharges that the Department has yet to process.\n\nThe full text of the letter is available HERE and below:\n\nDear Secretary Cardona,\n\nThe Biden administration has demonstrated a commitment to supporting student borrowers and mitigating the devastating impact of student loan debt, including issuing targeted debt relief to hundreds of thousands of borrowers defrauded by predatory higher education institutions. We urge the Department of Education (Department) to follow through on its commitment by immediately processing debt discharges for borrowers already approved for relief; issuing additional discharges for students who attended institutions with documented histories of predatory practices; and processing any outstanding borrower defense applications.\n\nToo many student borrowers have been preyed on by predatory schools, most of which are for-profit colleges. These for-profit colleges have a long history of disproportionately enrolling veterans, low-income students, students of color, homeless students, and first-generation college students and falsely promising high-quality jobs after graduation. Unfortunately, too many of these borrowers were saddled with debilitating debt, often without a degree to show for it. Debt has forced many of these borrowers to put their economic lives on hold, forgoing buying homes and starting families.\n\nThe Department must take three concrete steps to help these student borrowers.\n\nFirst, the Department must immediately discharge the student loans for the hundreds of thousands of students who the Department has already committed to providing borrower defense debt relief. Since 2022, the Department has announced group discharges for more than 1.2 million individuals who attended schools that engaged in documented fraud and misconduct, including:\n\nArt Institutes \u2013 317,000 students (May 2024)\n\nPhoenix University \u2013 1,200 students (September 2023)\n\nAshford University \u2013 2,300 students (August 2023)\n\nCollegeAmerica \u2013 7,400 students (July 2023)\n\nWestwood College \u2013 79,000 students (August 2022)\n\nITT Technical Institute \u2013 208,000 students (August 2022)\n\nKaplan Career Institute \u2013 100 students (August 2022)\n\nCorinthian Colleges \u2013 560,000 students (June 2022)\n\nMarinello Schools of Beauty \u2013 28,200 students (April 2022)\n\nDeVry University \u2013 1,800 students (February 2022)\n\nMinnesota School of Business/Globe University \u2013 270 students (July 2021)\n\nHowever, according to recent court filings, hundreds of thousands of these borrowers still await relief. For example, as of October 31, 2024, more than 25 percent of Corinthian Colleges\u2019 borrowers await their discharges, and many others await promised refunds of amounts previously paid. The Department must immediately process debt relief for these borrowers.\n\nSecond, the Department must use its authority under the Higher Education Act to issue group discharges for the millions of borrowers who attended other institutions with documented histories of predatory practices. These institutions are included in the appendix. The Department should promptly issue findings and utilize its authority to fully discharge the student loan balances of borrowers who attended the schools listed. Substantial evidence of misconduct already exists for each of these schools. Defrauded students should not be left holding the bag for institutions that no longer exist.\n\nThird, the Department must process any remaining applications for borrower defense discharge. These borrowers completed an onerous application to demonstrate that they were victims of fraud, but the Department has yet to act. Though the Department has not shared its number with Congress or the public, an estimated 400,000 borrowers have pending applications for borrower defense discharge. By processing existing group discharges and issuing findings for additional group discharges, the Department will eliminate much of the backlog in remaining borrower defense applications, efficiently delivering relief. Additionally, the Department must process any remaining borrower defense applications as soon as possible.\n\nUnder the previous Trump Administration, borrowers\u2019 applications were allowed to languish for years. If their application was reviewed, borrowers often were denied and granted no relief. Then-Education Secretary DeVos denied nearly 130,000 borrower defense applications. It is imperative that the Department provide immediate relief to borrowers. Borrowers who attended fraudulent schools and have struggled with debt for years, or even decades, cannot afford to wait any longer. We thank you for your attention to this urgent issue and look forward to working together to ensure that all students who were victims of predatory practices receive relief.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T22:13:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://larson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/larson-murphy-blumenthal-courtney-delauro-call-department-education"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9915890879929066, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}