Statement on Biden-Sanders Task Force's Student Debt Proposals

WASHINGTON, DC – Student Defense President Aaron Ament issued a statement today commending the student debt policy proposals released by the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force. The task force recommended requiring for-profit colleges to demonstrate their value and effectiveness before becoming eligible for federal student loans. The task force also called for the automatic forgiveness of outstanding loans held by borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled (TPD). 

Student Defense President Aaron Ament:
"The unity task force's report recognizes the devastation that predatory for-profit colleges have wreaked on student borrowers for far too long. We need strong accountability regulations to help ensure the next generation of students is not taken advantage of by predatory colleges, and will prevent billions of taxpayer dollars from flowing to predatory corporations. We look forward to the Gainful Employment regulations being restored when we prevail in our lawsuit against Secretary DeVos’s illegal repeal. Students deserve better than Betsy DeVos’s “borrower beware” approach to student protections.” 

“The task force’s recommendation to automatically forgive student loan debt for disabled borrowers is exactly what is needed, and what we have been advocating for. The Department of Education has already identified 350,000 disabled Americans who are eligible to have their loans erased, but instead of granting relief has gone on to seize borrowers’ disability benefits to pay for loans they do not owe. The next administration can fix the problem and end this injustice immediately.”