STATEMENT from the Project on Predatory Student Lending: In response to the U.S. Senate vote to confirm Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education
Washington, DC (March 4, 2025) – Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Linda McMahon as the next Secretary of Education. The Project on Predatory Student Lending, the leading nonprofit legal organization representing borrowers defrauded by predatory colleges, issued the following statement.
Statement from Eileen Connor, President and Executive Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending:
"The Senate’s decision to confirm Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education underscores just how little urgency our leaders are placing on the crisis in higher education and the need for serious reform.
Higher education should be a pathway to opportunity, not a financial trap. Yet, for too many Americans, our system has become just that—leaving students and families saddled with debt, while predatory institutions thrive with little accountability.
Secretary McMahon has stated that borrowers should not be ‘saddled with college debt for a degree that has not provided a meaningful return on their investment’ yet under her direction, the Department will attempt to strip protections from borrowers and allow predatory education companies to continue putting profits over people.
Now more than ever, we need leadership that is committed to protecting students, ensuring affordability, and restoring faith in an education system that has let too many people down. At PPSL, we have fought to protect the rights of student borrowers across multiple presidential administrations, and we remain committed to holding both predatory actors and the government accountable to the law and to the borrowers they serve.”
For additional background and information on borrower defense, visit ppsl.org/borrowerdefense.
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.
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