Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin, Murray, Warren, Blumenthal, Brown, Duckworth Press Secretary Devos To Assist Students In The Wake Of National College Closures
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today pressed U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to take immediate steps to assist students harmed by the closing of colleges owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), including many of the Art Institutes (Ai), Argosy University, and South University campuses around the country. Specifically, the senators ur… Continue Reading
07.25.18
Durbin Statement On Trump-DeVos Rewrite Of Borrower Defense Rule
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Trump Administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced a proposed rule rewriting the 2016 Obama Borrower Defense Rule. Under the Borrower Defense to Repayment provision of the Higher Education Act, the Department of Education has the legal authority to provide cheated and defrauded students with complete, immediate, and automatic relief from their federal student loans. 'Stu… Continue Reading
07.25.18
Durbin: Now Is The Time For The Senate To Help Families Buried In Student Loan Debt
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government bill - part of the "minibus" appropriations package being considered this week by the Senate - to make it easier for some struggling student loan borrowers to receive discharge of their student loans in bankruptcy under the "undue hardship" exception. "It is time for the Senate to get serious about the student loan crisis in America," Dur… Continue Reading
07.20.18
Durbin, Brown, Warren, Blumenthal Blast Sec For Weak Settlement With Former For-Profit College Executive
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) "incredible" settlement with ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT) Chief Executive Officer Kevin Modany. The SEC recently settled its fraud case against Mr. Modany, barring him from serving as a public company executive in the future but agreeing to a fine of just $200,000. Mr. Modany made $36 million at ITT… Continue Reading
06.26.18
Durbin Calls On Accreditor To Investigate Reports Of Misleading Practices By Dream Center Education Holdings
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) on recent reports that Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), the owner of Art Institutes, misled students about the accreditation status of several of its campuses including the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago and Schaumburg. Durbin's letter to Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, President of HLC, comes after a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, which reported that DCEH failed to i… Continue Reading
06.20.18
Durbin Announces Summer 2018 Recipients Of The Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced Karla Robles, a rising college senior at Loyola University Chicago, and Ivy Lyons, a rising college senior at Greenville University, as the summer 2018 recipients of the Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program. This scholarship, open to students from Illinois or those studying in Illinois, is an opportunity for the students to receive financial assistance while obtaining a first-hand experience in Senator Durbin's Washington, D.C. office. Th… Continue Reading
06.14.18
Durbin, Murray: Inspector General Reveals New Details About Failure Of DeVos, Trump Admin To Provide Debt Relief To Defrauded Student Borrowers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today slammed the Trump Administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for findings revealed in a letter from the Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG) showing the Department's blatant actions to avoid providing student loan relief to borrowers who were defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges, relief that students are entitled to under the law. In their letter, the OIG reveals that then-Acting Under… Continue Reading
06.04.18
Durbin, Brown Urge DeVos To Protect Students & taxpayers In Potential Transfer Of Predatory For-Profit DeVry University To Cogswell Education
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to carefully scrutinize Adtalem Global Education, Inc.'s - formerly known as DeVry Education Group - proposed transfer of DeVry University and Keller Graduate School of Management to Cogswell Education, which currently runs Cogswell College. Adtalem has a long record of abuse and mistreatment of students, according to multiple state and federal investigations and lawsuits. And if the tr… Continue Reading
05.29.18
Durbin, Duckworth Ask Illinois Superintendents About E-Cigarette Use By Middle And High School Students
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) are reaching out to Superintendents across the state and requesting information regarding what Illinois middle and high schools are experiencing with respect to student use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vaping products, such as the JUUL vaping device. Nationwide, between 2011 and 2015, the use of these dangerous and addictive nicotine products among high school students increased more than ten-fold-from 1.5 percent to 16 … Continue Reading
05.22.18
Durbin Sounds The Alarm On DeVos-Orchestrated Takeover Of The Department Of Education By The For-Profit College Industry
Following reports that the U.S. Department of Education is unwinding the unit tasked with investigating fraud at for-profit colleges and universities, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed President Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos for their orchestrated takeover of the Department of Education by the predatory for-profit college industry. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin blasted Secretary DeVos for dismantling the Enforcement Unit that was set-up in 2016 to prevent future fraud by… Continue Reading
05.09.18
Durbin Statement On Trump Administration Decision To Shutter CFPB Office Designed To Protect Student Loan Borrowers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced plans to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Office for Students and Young Consumers: The Trump Administration's message to families ripped off by student loan fraud: 'stop whining.' Today's action to dismantle a student loan watchdog office at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - which has returned three quarters of a billion… Continue Reading
04.26.18
Judiciary Committee Advances Nomination Of Bradley Maxwell To Be U.S. Marshal For Southern District Of Illinois
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance the nomination of Bradley A. Maxwell to serve as United States Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois: "Through many years of service to Illinois, Bradley Maxwell has demonstrated strong qualifications to serve as United States Marshal. We expect him to serve with professionalism, responsibility, and a clear focus on th… Continue Reading
04.23.18
Durbin Enlists Illinois High School Educators To Sound The Alarm On For-Profit Colleges
WASHINGTON - With high school seniors making decisions about their educational futures, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is enlisting the help of Illinois high school principals, counselors, and teachers to warn college-bound students and their families about the risks associated with attending for-profit colleges. In today's letter, Durbin calls on educators to give students "accurate and up-to-date information about their post-secondary education options, including the risks associated with at… Continue Reading
04.18.18
Authors Of Open Textbooks Pilot Press Secretary DeVos To Properly Implement New Program
WASHINGTON - The authors of the Open Textbooks Pilot included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 spending bill today pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to properly implement this new competitive grant program. The Open Textbooks Pilot was based on the Affordable College Textbook Act (S. 1864 and H.R. 3840), which would create a competitive grant program to support the creation and expand the use of open college textbooks-textbooks that are available under an open license, allowing professors, st… Continue Reading
04.11.18
Democratic Senators Press Secretary DeVos To Publicly Release Documents Being Used By Deadbeat For-Profit Accreditor To Petition For Federal Recognition
WASHINGTON - Following Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' decision to sign an order to restore the federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools' (ACICS), U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to immediately release the documents being used by ACICS to petition for recognition. The order from Secretary DeVos stated that ACICS will retain it… Continue Reading
03.22.18
Durbin Joins 32 Members Of Congress In Introducing Bill To Stem Student Debt Relief
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 31 other members of Congress in introducing the Debt-Free College Act, legislation that will reverse the growing student debt crisis in the United States. The bill restores a path to affordable college by providing states incentives through matching grants to increase investments in public higher education and provide students with debt-free college. According to estimates, Illinois would be one of ten st… Continue Reading
03.15.18
Durbin, Hassan Call On Ashford University To Halt New GI Bill Enrollments Amid Questions Of Eligibility
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today called on Bridgepoint Education - Ashford University's parent company - to immediately halt new GI Bill enrollments at Ashford until their eligibility is resolved with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). With its future GI Bill eligibility in doubt, Ashford University announced on November 14, 2017, that it would voluntarily "suspend new enrollment of veteran students utilizing GI Bill benefits." Stunningly, accord… Continue Reading
03.08.18
Durbin, Dem Senators Push For Student Loan Measures In Banking Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced an amendment to the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) that would improve consumer protections for federal and private student loans. Included in Durbin's amendment is a Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights to improve federal and private student loan servicing, restoration of private student loan dischargeability in bankruptcy, protections for service members and veterans, and protections… Continue Reading
03.07.18
Durbin Urges Wells Fargo To Halt Any Plans To Expand Presence On College Campuses
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan that urged the bank to halt any plans it may have to expand its financial footprint on college campuses until the Federal Reserve lifts its recently announced sanctions on the bank. In February, the Federal Reserve announced it would takes steps to stop the growth of Wells Fargo and hold the bank accountable for years of "pervasive and persistent misconduct" until it "sufficiently improves its … Continue Reading
03.01.18
Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Bill To Make Community And Technical School More Affordable
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to introduce America's College Promise Act. This legislation would create a new federal-state partnership to provide two years of tuition-free access to community or technical college programs that lead to a degree or industry-recognized credential. "Community colleges provide a springboard for students who wish to continue their education and a foundation for students to find goo… Continue Reading