On Wednesday, Sept. 12th, The Federal District Court in Washington, D.C overturned United States Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos’ action to defer loan forgiveness policies that were put into place by the Obama administration.
Earlier this year in July, DeVos sparked indignation amongst student-loan borrowers nationwide for delaying student-loan forgiveness when DeVos intended to change borrower-defense rules that would only make it more difficult for student-loan borrowers to prove that their for-profit college had committed fraud and have their loans forgiven. Prior to DeVos’ unusual proposition, the borrower defense rule protected students by allowing defrauded students to have their loans forgiven and was set to take place on July 1st.
Last week the attorneys general declared that DeVos violated the Administrative Procedures Act for failing to meet the standard for a delay, not giving a proper notice, and affording adequate time for public comment. Additionally, U.S. District Judge, Randolph Moss found that DeVos’ reasoning for freezing the borrower-defense rules were inconsistent and unlawful, a decision that brings relief to for-profit student-loan borrowers- at least temporarily.
While Cal State LA operates differently from for-profit colleges like UEI, Los Angeles Film Institute, and Westwood College, it is without a doubt that student debt applies to just about any college student at Cal State LA and the remaining 22 CSU campuses. LendEDU’s 2017 annual Student Loan Debt by School by State Report published on August 8th, 2018 indicates that the average college student in California is in debt by $22,383. Additionally, LendEDU’s data ranks Cal State LA 58th in the overall top 250 schools in the country with lowest debt report. The report also indicated that the average debt of a student borrower at Cal State LA is $491 more than a student-borrower at University of California, Berkeley at approximately $18,688. Meanwhile the average debt of a student at University of California Berkeley is approximately $18,197.
Fourth year Television and Film student, Victoria Lopez spoke with the University Times to share how she copes with her ongoing student loan balance since she enrolled at the University in 2015.
“I’m working for a retail Disney store and I’ve slowly been making payments since I got loans, but it really doesn’t reflect in my balance because I’m only paying off the interest”, said Lopez.
When asked about her student-loan debt balance, Lopez stated that her balance is approximately $15,000.
“I’m planning on paying it back monthly once I finish school”, the 21 year-old added.
Last month, Betsy DeVos stirred up turmoil amongst students, educators, and teacher unions across the country, as she explored the possibility of using federal education funds to purchase firearms for schools and arming teachers upon receiving queries from Texas and Oklahoma.
