Politics

Education Department To Cancel $150M In Federal Student Loan Debts

The Education Department announced it's getting rid of about $150 million in loan debt for 15,000 borrowers defrauded by for-profit colleges.

Education Department To Cancel $150M In Federal Student Loan Debts
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The Trump administration has decided to cancel federal student loan debts for thousands of people who were defrauded by for-profit colleges.

The Education Department announced Thursday it's getting rid of about $150 million in loan debt for 15,000 borrowers. Many of those are students whose colleges closed while they were enrolled. 

The move implements an Obama-era rule that was created to protect students from for-profit colleges that violated the law or took advantage of vulnerable people.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos tried for months to stop that rule from going into effect as is. She argued the policy isn't fair to colleges or students, and it forces taxpayers to pay for significant costs.

But a federal judge ruled in September that it was illegal for DeVos to delay the rule's implementation while she worked on rewriting it.

Officials say they will start letting borrowers know on Friday that their loan debts have been canceled.