Despite the Supreme Court striking down Biden’s broad student loan forgiveness plan in June 2023, the administration reported on February 12, 2024, that it had approved $136.6 billion in targeted student debt relief for 3.7 million borrowers through existing programs—demonstrating that …
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 30, 2023, in Biden v. Nebraska that the Biden administration exceeded its authority under the HEROES Act in announcing $400 billion in student loan forgiveness, striking down a plan that would have canceled up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients and …
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $430 billion in student loan debt exceeded executive authority under the HEROES Act. The plan would have forgiven up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, affecting 43 million Americans. …
President Joe Biden announced on August 24, 2022, a sweeping student loan forgiveness plan that would cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for other borrowers earning less than $125,000 annually ($250,000 for couples), potentially benefiting 43 …
A bipartisan coalition of 39 state attorneys general announced a $1.85 billion settlement with Navient Corporation on January 13, 2022, resolving allegations that the student loan servicing giant engaged in systematic fraud by steering struggling borrowers into costly long-term forbearances instead …
On March 13, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic devastation, the Trump administration announced an unprecedented pause on federal student loan payments and interest accrual, suspending monthly payments for approximately 44 million borrowers holding roughly 90% of all …
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in civil contempt of court on October 24, 2019, for violating a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Education from collecting on loans from 16,000 former Corinthian Colleges students and fined the Department $100,000. …
U.S. student loan debt surpassed $1.6 trillion in June 2019 according to Federal Reserve data, representing a 107% increase from approximately $772 billion at the end of 2009 and affecting some 44 million American borrowers. The milestone crystallized the student debt crisis as a systemic economic …
The University of Phoenix’s enrollment collapsed from a peak of 470,000 students in 2010 to approximately 95,000 by fall 2018—an 80% decline—as federal and state investigations exposed systematic fraud including deceptive advertising that falsely promised job opportunities with major companies …
On December 21, 2017, Secretary Betsy DeVos announced a radical departure from Obama administration policy by implementing an earnings-based formula for Corinthian Colleges debt relief that denied full forgiveness to fraud victims and calculated partial relief based on post-graduation earnings. …
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on June 14, 2017, that she would delay implementation of Obama-era “borrower defense to repayment” regulations scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2017—rules designed to help students defrauded by predatory colleges like Corinthian and ITT Tech …
During Betsy DeVos’s confirmation hearing on January 17, 2017, Democrats raised urgent concerns about her financial investments in student debt collection companies—conflicts of interest that remained unreviewed because Republicans rushed the hearing before the Office of Government Ethics …
ITT Technical Institute abruptly shut down all 130 campuses across 38 states on September 6, 2016, stranding approximately 35,000 students mid-semester and displacing 8,000 employees. The closure came after the Department of Education banned ITT from enrolling new students receiving federal aid and …
Corinthian Colleges abruptly shut down all 28 of its remaining campuses on April 26, 2015, stranding 16,000 students mid-semester, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 4, 2015, after months of federal and state investigations exposed systematic fraud affecting over 72,000 students. …
Fifteen former students of Corinthian Colleges launched the first student debt strike in U.S. history on February 23, 2015, refusing to repay federal loans for what they characterized as fraudulent education that left them deeper in poverty with worthless degrees. Organized by the Debt Collective, …
The U.S. Department of Education imposed a 21-day hold on all federal aid flowing to Corinthian Colleges on June 12, 2014, after the for-profit chain—operating as Everest College, WyoTech, and Heald College—refused to provide documentation substantiating falsified job placement rates. The action …
A Government Accountability Office investigation released on August 4, 2010, exposed systemic fraud and deceptive practices across the for-profit college industry, revealing that while these institutions enrolled only 10-12% of all higher education students, they received 25% of all federal …
Between 2005 and 2024, the United States operated a two-tiered bankruptcy system that weaponized debt against students and working Americans while preserving bankruptcy as a strategic wealth-preservation tool for corporations and the wealthy—a defining example of 21st century American kleptocracy. …
President George W. Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) on April 20, 2005, fundamentally weaponizing bankruptcy law against student borrowers while preserving corporate bankruptcy as a strategic tool. The law amended Section 523(a)(8) to make private …