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Time for Higher Ed Department to Protect Student Borrowers from Unscrupulous Schools
There have been many efforts by the higher education department in our country to restore financial aid system integrity. Their efforts should not go wasted and students must be helped to protect themselves from schools that are all out to take advantage of them.

Students must be dissuaded from attending schools that lead them to a huge debt. The Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project shoes that no matter what effort we take there will always be schools that will take undue advantage of borrowers.

Students wish to fulfill their dream of betterment through education and schools, especially the for-profit sector take advantage of their aspirations. They prey on the student’s vulnerability and bury them in debt. There have been efforts to reign in this type of abuse but no student affected to date has found any relief. Rule making this year must focus on these issues and strive to take a huge financial burden off the student’s shoulders.

Rules that govern the current programs must be completely rewritten by the Education Department. Those who are victims of unscrupulous schools must be discharged of their unfair loans.

In response to allegations of abuse and fraud in proprietary school sector, these programs were created in the early 1990s by the Congress. Three discharges were brought into effect that were school related that include false certification, closed school and unpaid refunds.

Borrowers who attend schools that indulged in fraudulent practices however are not benefited in any way by any of these programs that do not offer any general remedy for them. Admission officers by commission may be paid on a regular basis by schools for violation of rules governing incentive compensation, for admission of students who are not qualified and for failing to provide qualified teachers or educational materials. There are no grounds however for cancellation offered by any of the above.

It is time to strengthen the false certification discharge program by taking various measures –
Rules on false certification discharge must be revised. If a school certifies eligibility falsely, borrowers must be eligible for relief. This should include certification of academic progress of students in an improper and false manner.

Borrowers who are taken in by false claims regarding programs in terms of credit hour regulations or if they face a compensation ban incentive violation must also be compensated. If schools get borrowers to opt for programs that do not benefit them in any manner, relief should be provided to the borrower.

Problems must be addressed with burden of proof which means proof of state or federal findings through investigations on fraud committed by schools in question must be provided to the Education Department. Apart from these evidences, department must also take into account student complaints and examine them.

If any school commits serious and pervasive violations of provisions towards false certification, then our Education Department must be in a position to grant group discharges. It is time for our Education Department to take these few important steps in the rulemaking process. This is the only way to help students who victims of unscrupulous and fraudulent schools.