[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15651-15652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there are a lot of issues roiling our 
Nation these days. I want to talk about an issue that may not get all 
the headlines, but that has seen dramatic and troubling changes this 
year: our Nation's higher education policy.
  Over the last several weeks, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has 
continued her assault on students and their families.
  Previously we had seen her rescind reforms that would improve 
customer service for students and hold student loan servicers 
accountable for their treatment of borrowers; rescind a policy 
prohibiting debt collectors from charging borrowers 16 percent fees to 
bring their loans out of default; halt the processing of borrower 
defense loan discharge applications from students defrauded by for-
profit colleges and throwing out rules intended to help students get 
the discharges to which they are entitled to under law; rewrite the 
gainful employment rule, which is meant to protect students from 
programs for-profit colleges that saddle students with too much debt 
compared to their income; propose eliminating public service loan 
forgiveness, which helps students afford to serve their communities, 
States, and country while repaying their student loans; propose dumping 
$38 billion in additional student loan interest on needy students by 
eliminating subsidized undergraduate loans; and propose freezing the 
maximum Pell grant award so that their award covers even less of what 
it costs a student to attend college.
  That is just the beginning.
  Several weeks ago, I joined Senators Brown, Murray, and Warren in 
calling on Secretary DeVos to appoint a credible, well-qualified, 
independent chief enforcement officer to lead the Department of 
Education's enforcement unit.
  The unit was created after the collapse of Corinthian to improve 
oversight of higher education institutions and enforcement of Federal 
laws.
  Robert Kaye, a respected investigator and consumer expert from the 
Federal Trade Commission, was selected to be the first chief. Kaye left 
the post in March.
  Secretary DeVos allowed this critical position to remain vacant for 
more than 4 months until earlier last month, when she finally announced 
the appointment of Dr. Julian Schmoke, Jr.
  At first glance, Dr. Schmoke meets none of the requirements for the 
job that my colleagues and I set out in our letter.
  As chief enforcement officer, Dr. Schmoke will be charged with 
ensuring that institutions of higher education are following Federal 
laws and regulations.
  This will mean paying special attention to an area that poses the 
most risk to students and has demonstrated systemic abuse: for-profit 
colleges.
  These are the colleges that enroll 9 percent of all postsecondary 
students in America, but take in 17 percent of all Federal student aid 
and account for 33 percent of all Federal student loan defaults.
  Beyond the infamous Corinthian and ITT Tech examples, there are 
countless examples of for-profit colleges defrauding students, whether 
it be Ashford, Westwood, or DeVry.
  Last year, DeVry agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $100 
million for defrauding students and agreed to a separate settlement 
with the Department of Education.
  Guess who Dr. Schmoke previously worked for? You guessed it, DeVry 
University.
  In fact, there are reports that DeVry is still under investigation by 
the very unit Dr. Schmoke has been appointed to lead. How is that for 
the fox guarding the henhouse?
  If that wasn't enough, there is no discernable evidence on Dr. 
Schmoke's resume of any experience conducting or overseeing 
investigations.
  Shortly after his appointment, I joined Senators Brown, Warren, 
Blumenthal, and Whitehouse in writing to Dr. Schmoke raising these 
concerns and asking him to meet with us. We are still waiting.
  As Betsy DeVos orchestrates a corporate takeover of the Department of 
Education by for-profit interests, State attorneys general and other 
Federal agencies are even more important in providing aggressive 
oversight to protect students and taxpayers.
  Betsy DeVos is doing what she can to disrupt that, too.
  On September 1, the Department of Education provided notice to the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it was terminating its 
existing data-sharing agreement with the CFPB.
  The Department took exception ``to the CFPB unilaterally expanding 
its

[[Page 15652]]

oversight role . . .'' into areas that the Department viewed as within 
its jurisdiction.
  The CFPB has been a leader in protecting student borrowers harmed by 
Federal loan servicers like Navient and predatory lending practices by 
institutions like Corinthian and ITT Tech.
  This political stunt makes clear that Secretary DeVos would rather 
initiate a turf war than work with other Federal agencies to fulfill 
the Federal Government's collective oversight responsibilities.
  In announcing Dr. Schmoke as the new chief enforcement officer, 
Secretary DeVos said, ``Protecting students has always been my top 
priority.''
  Well, Madam Secretary, your actions just don't back up that 
statement.
  Nearly every time you have had the opportunity to stand up for 
students, their families, and taxpayers, you have turned your back on 
them.
  Commonsense protections for students and taxpayers shouldn't be a 
partisan issue.
  Secretary DeVos, I urge you to abandon this assault on students and 
instead work with us to strengthen America's system of higher 
education, to deal honestly with wrongdoing by for-profit colleges, and 
to increase opportunities for all Americans.

                          ____________________