Nessel, 22 other AGs File Suit Against Secretary DeVos

MICHIGAN — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined 22 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education challenging their action to repeal the 2016 borrower defense regulations and replace them with regulations that appear to benefit for-profit schools.

The AGs office said the 2016 borrower defense regulations established protections for student borrowers who have been misled or defrauded by predatory schools by providing borrowers an efficient pathway to get relief from their federal student loans, and creating robust deterrents for schools that engage in predatory conduct.

Under the Trump administration, USDE repealed the 2016 regulations and replaced them with new ones that make it difficult for victimized students to obtain financial relief, while rolling back critical oversight measures, Nessel said.

In the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the coalition argues that USDE’s decision to repeal and replace the Obama-era regulations violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and asks the court to vacate USDE’s new regulations.

“At a time when the Department of Education should want to make every effort to ensure student borrowers are protected as they seek an education, my colleagues and I are left with no other choice but to take Betsy DeVos to court,” Nessel said in a statement. “We are calling on the Department of Education to do right by student borrowers who get robbed by for-profit institutions, rather than to make it more difficult for them to seek relief by rolling back the protections already in place.

"We have seen thousands of Michiganders fall victim to the misconduct of for-profit institutions. That is reason alone to join in this fight.”

Investigations and enforcement actions by attorneys general have revealed the misconduct of numerous for-profit schools and helped secure relief for tens of thousands of student borrowers, Nessel said.

In the lawsuit, the coalition argues that USDE’s repeal and replacement of the 2016 borrower defense regulations violates the APA.

In filing this lawsuit, Nessel joins the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.