Durbin Urges Biden Administration To Prioritize Processing Borrower Defense Claims To Support Defrauded Students Before Second Trump Administration
Durbin shared the story of two Illinoisans saddled with debt from the now-defunct for-profit college, Brooks Institute
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling on the Biden Administration to prioritize discharging student loans of borrowers who attended predatory for-profit colleges. In his remarks, Durbin underscored that the current administration must move to protect students as the Trump Administration has a proven record of disregarding students’ borrower defense claims. Durbin also emphasized the dangers of for-profit colleges, which historically saddle students with crushing debt while offering either no degree or a near worthless degree.
“Predatory, higher-education schools [are] deceiving and swindling students and burying them in mountains of debt… They are called for-profit [colleges], and they enroll eight percent of all American college students… They account for 30 percent of all federal student loan defaults,” Durbin began his remarks.
Durbin then shared the story of two Illinois constituents who both attended Brooks Institute, which has since closed, leaving both Jaclyn and Matthew in mountains of debt.
“Jaclyn is from Carlyle, Illinois, a small town in Southern Illinois. She was lured into attending a now-defunct for-profit college known as Brooks Institute… She dreamed of being a photographer,”Durbin said. “She thought some day she could work for the Smithsonian Institute.”
Jaclyn received dozens of advertisements and brochures from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California. The school boasted about its 10 percent acceptance rate and its Career Services Department that placed 89 percent of graduates. While the $50,000 cost gave Jaclyn pause, the school assured her that most graduates earned a starting salary of $50,000 and that she could easily repay her loans within a few years.
“She signed up. She soon learned that Brooks Institute in California was spewing lie after lie,” Durbin said. “Brooks inflated its graduation rates, exaggerated its job placement rates and starting salaries, and had no connections to the employers listed in the brochures. It was a classic case of bait and switch. The cost of Brooks also was significantly higher than $50,000.”
“After taking out federal and private student loans and watching those loans pile up, Jaclyn threw in the towel. She was no longer able to afford attending Brooks Institute. She dropped out with no degree and thousands of dollars in debt,” Durbin continued.
When Jaclyn attempted to transfer her more than 90 credits from Brooks to attend a credible school, she encountered a common roadblock – reputable public and private nonprofit colleges would not accept her credits from Brooks.
“Jaclyn’s story is not uncommon. Her husband, Matthew, also was conned by this school,” Durbin said. “Now Jaclyn and her husband, Matthew, cannot qualify for ordinary loans… a mortgage on a home, a car loan. Matthew’s wages were garnished to pay back these loans to Brooks Institute. And they were forced to close their photography business, sell their equipment, removing their second stream of income.”
“The last chance of hope was to apply for something known as borrower defense through the U.S. Department of Education,” Durbin continued.
Durbin has long pushed for defrauded students to receive borrower defense discharges. The Biden Administration has supported students scammed by for-profit colleges by discharging billions in loans forborrowers who attended some of the worst for-profit schools, including Corinthian Colleges, ITT Technical Institute, and Westwood College. However, while these discharges have been announced for some, many borrowers are still waiting for their discharges to be processed.
Durbin continued his remarks, emphasizing the urgency in processing student loan discharges as the Trump Administration previously halted the processing of borrower defense applications for years, leaving defrauded students in financial limbo.
“It is critical that the Biden Administration, in the closing seven weeks, discharge these loans as quickly as possible, as well as issue and process group borrower defense discharges for students who attended schools with documented fraud like Brooks Institute. And in the remaining days, the Department must continue to process individual borrower defense applications,” Durbin said.
“When President Trump was going through his first term, his Education Secretary was named Betsy DeVos. She all but stopped borrower defense applications for years. She called it a ‘free money’ giveaway… Once the courts finally forced DeVos and the Trump Administration, in its first term, to process borrower defense applications, the Secretary created a factory system for denial,” Durbin said.
In DeVos’ final year leading the Department, 130,000 borrower defense claims were rejected. In contrast, the Biden Administration prioritized students, discharging more than $18.7 billion in loans for borrowers who attended for-profit schools.
“History shows that a second Trump Administration is likely to do everything in its power to prevent these students from receiving relief again. But our nation’s students, who are simply trying to better their lives deserve better,” Durbin said.
“Before the next president is sworn into office, let’s make sure the borrowers who have been waiting for relief and students who have been waiting for justice receive it,” Durbin concluded his speech.
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.
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