RELEASE: New Resources Aim to Debunk Myths Surrounding Borrower Defense
PPSL and TICAS released a series of materials sharing facts about this longstanding policy on student debt relief that has increasingly coming under attack
BOSTON – Today, the Project on Predatory Student Lending (PPSL) and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) released a series of resources explaining Borrower Defense to Repayment, or “borrower defense,” the longstanding provision in law stating that federal student loan borrowers should not be forced to repay loans for classes or degrees from schools that have lied to, deceived, and misled them. The new resources offer a concise overview of Borrower Defense, myths and facts about the program, and recommendations for Congress and the Department of Education to protect borrowers and taxpayers.
Congress codified borrower defense in 1993, but it has come under attack recently from those who side with predatory schools over students. In April 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order halting the 2022 iteration of the rule, which was the result of an extensive rulemaking process, reverting to a 2019 version of the policy that had bipartisan, opposition in both the House and Senate. Today, the House Appropriations Committee is considering a bill that would prevent the Department of Education from implementing rules related to borrower defense.
The new Borrower Defense toolkit includes:
Borrower Defense 101: A summary of the history of borrower defense and how it has been implemented over the last 30 years.
Myths vs Facts: Debunking myths and misconceptions that have been used in recent attacks against the rule.
Overview Fact Sheet: A one-page overview of borrower defense, the attacks against it, and what steps must be taken to protect borrowers.
“Borrower Defense is a critical protection for student borrowers and taxpayers and has been in place for over thirty years. It is the brazenness of for-profit schools and the willingness of courts to accept their specious complaints that is new and requires us to share this important information separating legal fact from political fiction,” said Eileen Connor, President and Executive Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending. “The law is very clear that students who are cheated by their schools have a legal right to loan cancellation, and at PPSL we’ll continue to work alongside borrowers and with partners like TICAS to ensure that borrowers receive justice.”
PPSL represents hundreds of thousands of borrowers whose borrower defense applications had been ignored by the Department of Education for years, in the class action lawsuit Sweet v Cardona. In November 2022, the court approved a $6 billion settlement to cancel these fraudulent loans under separate, existing authority.
“For more than a decade, the collapse of predatory, misleading, and financially unsound institutions has demonstrated the need for a robust borrower defense rule to protect student borrowers pursuing higher education. Hundreds of thousands of students continue to await the relief that should be provided to them under federal law,” said Sameer Gadkaree, President of The Institute for College Access & Success. “The resources TICAS and PPSL are releasing today should inform policymakers and advocates working both to restore the financial footing of defrauded borrowers and proactively ensure future students don’t experience similar harms.”
To date, the Biden-Harris administration has announced discharges totaling $28.7 billion for 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
PPSL and TICAS are calling on policymakers to protect borrowers and taxpayer-funded financial aid programs by:
Codifying the existing 2022 borrower defense regulations to protect them from future attacks;
Clearing the current backlog of applications; and
Processing group discharges where there is known misconduct.
For more information on each organization’s advocacy on borrower defense and other higher education issues, visit PPSL’s website at www.ppsl.org and TICAS’ website at www.ticas.org.
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About the Project on Predatory Student Lending
The Project on Predatory Student Lending (PPSL) is the leading legal organization representing student borrowers against predatory for-profit colleges and the policies that enable institutions to exploit and cheat students. PPSL uses bold, strategic litigation and advocacy to demand accountability in the higher education space and influence policy solutions to create a more just and affordable education system. PPSL represents more than one million student borrowers and its work has resulted in cancellation of more than $22 billion of fraudulent student loan debt.
About TICAS
The Institute for College Access & Success is a trusted source of research, design, and advocacy for student-centered public policies that promote affordability, accountability, and equity in higher education.
