Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin Reintroduces Bill To End Student Loan Debt Crisis
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI-02), and a group of 42 members of Congress, reintroduced 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. I… Continue Reading
03.06.19
Durbin Meets With Open Textbook Pilot Grantees And Students
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Open Textbook Pilot grant recipients, open textbook experts, and college students to get an update on how federal funds are helping students save money. Over the last two fiscal years, Durbin, along with Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN), successfully secured $10 million in federal funding to create an Open Textbook Pilot program at the Department of Education. The Pilot is a competitive grant program for institutions o… Continue Reading
03.05.19
Durbin Meets With Open Textbook Pilot Grantees And Students
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Open Textbook Pilot grant recipients, open textbook experts, and college students to get an update on how federal funds are helping students save money. Over the last two fiscal years, Durbin, along with Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN), successfully secured $10 million in federal funding to create an Open Textbook Pilot program at the Department of Education. The Pilot is a competitive grant program for institutions o… Continue Reading
02.28.19
Durbin, Waters Re-Introduce Bill To Give Students Defrauded By For-Profit Colleges Their Day In Court
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) have reintroduced bicameral legislation designed to strengthen students' ability to hold for-profit colleges accountable in court for their misconduct. The Court Legal Access & Student Support (CLASS) Act prohibits any school receiving Title IV student aid funding from placing restrictions on students' ability to pursue legal claims, individually or with others, against higher education institutions … Continue Reading
02.27.19
Durbin Statement On For-Profit Agrosy University Losing Title IV Funding
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Department of Education announced that Argosy University, a for-profit college, will no longer receive Title IV funding: The downfall of Argosy University has been a long time coming-from its days as part of the predatory for-profit Education Management Corporation, to its mismanagement under Dream Center and the federal receivership, and the Department's complicity at every step. About 8… Continue Reading
02.19.19
Durbin & Delauro Call For OIG Investigation Into Department Of Education's Handling Of Dream Center Transaction, Possible Misuse Of Federal Funds
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) called on the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to immediately investigate reports that millions in federal Title IV funds have not been paid to students attending Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH) schools operated by a court-appointed receiver and that additional federal funds may have disappeared as a result of questionable sales, consummated with the Department's assis… Continue Reading
01.29.19
Durbin Urges Trump-Devos Department Of Education To Stop Embracing Predatory For-Profit College Industry
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today slammed the Department of Education's repeated embrace of the for-profit college industry, and urged the Department to take action to help thousands of defrauded students in Illinois and across the country. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin highlighted the continued upheaval in the for-profit college industry with the closures of Vatterott Colleges, Education Corporation of America, and Dream Center Education Holdings - and state settleme… Continue Reading
12.20.18
Durbin, Dem Senators Press DeVos To Provide Full Student Loan Discharges To Former ITT Tech Students
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos calling for full federal student loan discharges for former ITT Tech (ITT) student borrowers defrauded by the now-defunct school. The Department of Education has failed to meet its responsi… Continue Reading
12.17.18
Durbin Statement On For-Profit Vatterott College Closure
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after Vatterott College, a for-profit college, announced its immediate closure: Another overcharging, underperforming for-profit college has closed its doors. It's the second major chain in just the last three weeks to abruptly close. And it won't be the last. With the collapse of Vatterott College, another 156 students in Illinois and 2,300 nationwide are left high and dry. Now it is the oblig… Continue Reading
12.10.18
Durbin, Takano, Carper, Cohen Call On Department Of Education To Protect Military And Veteran Students
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-CA-41), U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), and six of their colleagues today sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urging the Department of Education to protect military and veteran students by publishing, as part of the federal 90/10 rule, the amount and percentage of revenue received by for-profit colleges from all federal educational programs. The 90/10 rule … Continue Reading
12.03.18
Durbin Echoes Department Of Education Inspector General's Alarm On For-Profit Colleges
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today highlighted the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) semi-annual report to Congress where retiring Inspector General (IG) Kathleen Tighe raised the alarm on for-profit colleges. In the report, IG Tighe noted, "We disagreed with the Department's proposed elimination of the gainful employment regulations without an adequate replacement to ensure accountability. My predecessors and I have testified before… Continue Reading
11.30.18
Durbin Announces Fall 2018 Recipient Of The Ed Greelegs Scholarship Program
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced Irving Moran, a sophomore at Elgin Community College as the Fall 2018 recipient 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 first-hand experience in Senator Durbin's office. The program was created in honor of Durbin's former Chief of Staff who passed away in March 2017 due to … Continue Reading
11.29.18
Durbin Introduces Bill To Improve Concussion Safety In Youth Sports
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act, a bill that would strengthen elementary and secondary school procedures for preventing, identifying, and treating student-athletes who suffer concussions. The National Federation of State High School Associations estimates that about 140,000 students playing high school sports suffer concussions every year, though many go unreported. The bill requires states to adopt "when in doubt, … Continue Reading
10.17.18
Durbin Calls On Secretary Devos To Implement & Enforce Obama-Era Borrower Defense Rule
SPRINGFIELD - Upon the Obama-era Borrower Defense rule taking effect, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to expeditiously implement and enforce the rule-including provisions providing automatic closed schools discharges to thousands of eligible students and prohibiting schools from using mandatory arbitration. The rule took effect following rulings by a federal judge that the Trump-DeVos Department of Education's delay was illegal and den… Continue Reading
10.10.18
Durbin, Blumenthal, Brown, Warren, Hassan Press Secretary Devos To Respond To Troubling Findings At For-Profit Colleges By Accreditor
WASHINGTON-Following the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges' (ACCSC) decision to place for-profit Center for Excellence in Higher Education's (CEHE) Stevens-Henager Colleges, California College San Diego, CollegeAmerica, and Independence University on probation based on a system-wide disregard for addressing the needs of their students, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today pre… Continue Reading
09.19.18
Durbin, Brown Urge Purdue University Board To End Practice Of Mandatory Arbitration For Enrollment At Global University
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today urged the Board of Trustees at Purdue University - which purchased the predatory for-profit Kaplan University, now Purdue University Global - to end the for-profit college industry practice of forcing students to sign pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clauses and class action bans as a condition of the new entity. Mandatory arbitration clauses prevent students from bringing suit against a school in a court of law when … Continue Reading
09.18.18
Durbin, King, Smith Secure $5 Million For Competitive Grants Supporting Open Textbooks In FY19 Funding Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN) today applauded the inclusion of a provision allocating $5 million in additional funding for the continued implementation of the Open Textbooks Pilot in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education Appropriations package. The Open Textbooks Pilot, based on the Senator's Affordable College Textbook Act, is a competiti… Continue Reading
08.30.18
Durbin, Warren, Blumenthal, Brown Seek Response To Allegations That Dept Of Education Official Advised Dream Center Education Holdings To Misrepresent Accreditation Status To Students
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos regarding reports that the Department of Education was behind Dream Center Education Holdings' (DCEH) alleged misrepresentation of its accreditation status. A report published by David Halperin of the Republic Report alleges that Diane Jones, Principal Deputy Under Secretary delegated to perform the duties of… Continue Reading
08.22.18
Durbin, Dem Senators Take Action To Stop Trump-Devos Elimination Of Student Borrower Protections
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with several of his Senate Democratic Colleagues, today introduced a pair of amendments to the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill - part of the "minibus" appropriations package being considered this week by the Senate - to protect relief for student loan borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges and universities and hold institutions accountable. The amendments would prohibit Secretary of Educatio… Continue Reading
08.07.18
Durbin, Duckworth Join Senate Democrats To Condemn Trump Administration For Rescinding Civil Rights Guidance Promoting Diversity In Education
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and 17 other Senate Democrats in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos condemning their decision to rescind civil rights guidance promoting diversity in education. Last month, Attorney General Sessions and Secretary DeVos rescinded guidance that clarifies to schools how to promote diversity and open doors of oppo… Continue Reading