DeVos to Cancel $150 Million in Student Loan Debt

Inside Higher Ed

The Education Department said Thursday that it would carry out part of the Obama administration’s 2016 borrower-defense rule, automatically canceling the student loan debt of 15,000 borrowers whose colleges closed between November 2013 and December 2018.

The department will cancel about $150 million in student loan debt over all, including about $80 million owed by borrowers who attended Corinthian Colleges.

The move comes after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos lost a legal battle in federal court this fall over the enforcement of the 2016 rule. One of the provisions provides for automatic loan discharge for student borrowers whose college closed three years ago and who never enrolled at another institution.