Attorneys general: Restore guidance to aid student borrowers

BOSTON (AP) – Attorneys general from 20 states, including Kentucky, and the District of Columbia are faulting Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for rolling back Obama-era guidance they say is helping protect student loan borrowers.

In a letter sent Monday, Democratic attorneys general Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Lisa Madigan of Illinois called on DeVos to restore the memos instituted by the Education Department last year under former President Barack Obama.

The attorneys general said the guidance is designed to help borrowers get accurate information about their loans and repayment options – ensuring the consistency of service provided by student loan servicers and increasing accountability.

“Federal student loan default rates continue to rise across the country and many face crushing loan debt and credit score ruin,” said Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. “The Department has abandoned its responsibility to millions of student loan borrowers and their families across the country. Borrowers are now left more susceptible to poor practices and abuses that the servicing reforms were intended to thwart.”

The letter was co-signed by attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.