Warren blasts DeVos on reducing loan forgiveness

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ripped Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s decision to reduce loan forgiveness for some defrauded students, calling the move “a stingy & ridiculous scheme.”

“After almost a year of inaction – and over 100k defrauded students waiting for answers – @BetsyDeVosED has a stingy & ridiculous scheme for making many of them pay the fed govt money they don’t owe. It’s shameful,” Warren said in a tweet on Thursday.

After almost a year of inaction – and over 100k defrauded students waiting for answers – @BetsyDeVosED has a stingy & ridiculous scheme for making many of them pay the fed govt money they don’t owe. It’s shameful. https://t.co/1MxwhwFUzH

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 21, 2017

“When sleazy for-profit colleges break the law & cheat students, the law says these defrauded students can get their entire student loan cancelled. But @BetsyDeVosED found a way to do as little as possible to help as few students as possible,” she said in another tweet. 

When sleazy for-profit colleges break the law & cheat students, the law says these defrauded students can get their entire student loan cancelled. But @BetsyDeVosED found a way to do as little as possible to help as few students as possible.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 21, 2017

Warren’s comments come after DeVos unveiled new rules for giving aid to students who say that they were defrauded by colleges.{mosads}

“No fraud is acceptable, and students deserve relief if the school they attended acted dishonestly. This improved process will allow claims to be adjudicated quickly and harmed students to be treated fairly,” DeVos said in a statement.

DeVos’s move marks a departure from Obama-era rules, which allowed full loan forgiveness to defrauded students.

Under the new rules, student loan forgiveness would be determined by the affected student’s income.

The department said students making less than half of what their peers earn will receive full relief.