WASHINGTON — Democratic attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Education over its decision to block an Obama-era rule designed to protect students from being defrauded by for-profit colleges.
The Gainful Employment rule was supposed to take effect this year, but Education Secretary Betsy DeVos froze it until a new rule could be crafted. The rule was meant to ensure that students received an education that would help them land a job with a high enough income to pay off their student loan debt.
The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court in the nation’s capital, comes as DeVos faces criticism from student advocates and Democratic lawmakers for delaying action on tens of thousands of claims for loan forgiveness from former students at defunct for-profit colleges.
DeVos’ move to block the gainful employment rule is part of an ongoing effort to roll back some of the policies of the Obama administration on issues ranging from student loans to the rights of transgender students and the way colleges investigate sexual assault on campus. DeVos says those rules were ineffective, confusing and were an encroachment on state and local rights.