Dept. of Education freezing rules designed to protect students

The Department of Education is freezing two rules designed to protect students.

The rules would have given former students at now-closed local colleges thousands of dollars in refunds.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson pressed education secretary Betsy DeVos for refunds for students when for-profit schools like Everest College were shut down 2 years ago.

But DeVos has instructed the Department of Education to halt the rules, closing the door for future claims.

They would have taken effect July 1.

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The first rule required for-profit colleges to prove their degrees lead to gainful employment.

The second rule gave students defrauded by for-profit colleges a path towards loan forgiveness.

The Department of Education says they'll honor the 16,000 claims already filed. But that includes only some of the 6,000 Washingtonians affected by the closure Corinthian and Everest colleges in the state 2 years ago, after the colleges lied about job placement rates.

Groups representing for-profit colleges have sued to get the rules stopped, calling the debt loan forgiveness burdensome.

Meanwhile, Ferguson is still pressing the Department of Education to keep the rules in place.

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