WHEREAS:
The U.S. Department of Education supports millions of college and university students with approximately $130 billion in loans and grants annually; and
WHEREAS:
As of 2018, more than 45 million students had borrowed a total of $1.4 trillion; and
WHEREAS:
New data show that students who attend for-profit colleges are four times as likely as those who attend traditional schools to default on their student loans and the rate of default for those who attended for-profit colleges continues to rise; and
WHEREAS:
The student loan default rate is 11.5 percent and taxpayers will end up paying a significant portion of these loan defaults; and
WHEREAS:
The Obama administration implemented a gainful employment regulation which requires for-profit colleges and other technical schools to demonstrate that their graduates’ incomes are sufficient to repay student loan debts. Without the required demonstration, institutions jeopardize their federal funding; and
WHEREAS:
The Obama administration also implemented a borrower defense regulation which allows students who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges to have their student loans forgiven. The regulation requires the for-profit college to pay for the loan and not the taxpayers; and
WHEREAS:
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appointed a former administrator from the DeVry Institute, a for-profit college, to lead the Department of Education’s Student Aid Enforcement Unit. The DeVry Institute paid settlements to both state and federal governments for practices that violated the borrower defense regulation and the gainful employment regulation; and
WHEREAS:
Secretary DeVos announced that the Education Department would delay implementing the borrower defense regulation which could leave the 16,000 borrowers who already applied for relief under the regulation in limbo; and
WHEREAS:
Secretary DeVos announced plans to rework the gainful employment regulation, to the likely benefit of the for-profit college sector; and
WHEREAS:
Higher education is one of the proven avenues to greater income growth and social mobility with some studies finding college graduates earn $17,500 more per year than non-college graduates. However, the high cost and ever-increasing student debt is eroding the benefits of higher education for many students.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME calls on all policymakers at the federal, state and local levels to promulgate policies that provide students access to affordable higher education without burdensome debt; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME calls for strong Congressional oversight of the U.S. Department of Education to ensure that the regulations currently in place to hold the for-profit college sector accountable are properly enforced.
SUBMITTED BY:
Kathryn Lybarger, President and Delegate
Betti Clark, Secretary-Treasurer
AFSCME Local 3299
California