Secretary Cardona and the Department of Education Can Quickly Implement Student Defense Proposals
WASHINGTON, DC – As Dr. Miguel Cardona awaits a final Senate vote on his confirmation as Secretary of Education, Student Defense’s 100 Day Docket proposals are an opportunity for the Department of Education to quickly improve protections for students without Congressional action. The 100 Day Docket initiative has identified ways for the Department to strengthen enforcement efforts and take administrative actions to protect students. These proposals, which have already garnered public support from senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state attorneys general, include exercising underused authorities in the Higher Education Act to foster equity, implementing stronger protections for students, identifying new pathways to student loan relief, and bringing accountability to predatory colleges and other actors.
“As he takes over the Department of Education after four years under Secretary DeVos, Dr. Cardona has an exciting opportunity to jumpstart real change for students in higher education,” said Student Defense President Aaron Ament. “As Secretary, Dr. Cardona will be able to immediately deliver tangible benefits for millions of student loan borrowers, and to reinvigorate the Department’s enforcement powers to stamp out predatory colleges.”
More information about the project is available at www.100DayDocket.org.
100 Day Docket proposals ready for immediate implementation include:
- Providing student loan discharges to more than 400,000 borrowers the Department has already identified as eligible for “total and permanent disability” relief. Endorsed by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE).
- Expanding debt relief to more student loan borrowers harmed by schools such as Corinthian Colleges and ITT, through the use of existing closed school discharge and borrower defense authorities. Endorsed by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), and cited by five Senate Democrats in an October oversight letter.
- Restoring automatic relief for students when colleges close – Endorsed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
- Holding college owners and executives personally liable for their schools’ predatory and reckless conduct. Endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and cited by six Senate Democrats in an October oversight letter.
- Ensuring accountability for bad actors by identifying the Department of Education’s underused oversight mechanisms such as subpoena power and consumer-based enforcement actions. Endorsed by Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA).
- Fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program through administrative reforms, servicing improvements, and other executive actions.
- Using the Department of Education’s undeveloped authorities to protect students and promote equity in higher education. Student Defense’s paper, published with the Brookings Institution, lays out how a future Secretary of Education could use these agreements under the Direct Loan program to mandate “quality assurance” programs, promote social equity, and create structures for institutions to have financial “skin in the game” with respect to student loan repayment.
- Reinvigorating enforcement against predatory colleges and protecting the next generation of students. Student Defense’s proposal was featured in a special Democracy Journal symposium on the future of enforcement in a Biden administration.
- Protecting students from sexual violence by reversing the Trump administration’s Title IX amendments that dramatically weakened protections for survivors of sexual assault.
- Ensuring states can protect student loan borrowers by revoking flawed interpretations regarding the preemption of state laws as applied to student loan servicing companies.