Education Department erroneously collected additional Corinthian College loans Presented by Comcast

With help from Caitlin Emma and Michael Stratford

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Quick Fix

— The Education Department erroneously collected student loans from an additional 29,000 former Corinthian College students, a figure that eclipses the administration's initial reports.

— Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will speak at the American Legislative Exchange Council's annual conference this morning and plans to thank the group for supporting her Education Freedom Scholarships proposal.

— Striking Harvard graduate students will spend a third day on the picket lines, as organizers continue to press for better pay and benefits.

A message from Comcast: With an uncertain school year underway, Comcast’s Internet Essentials Partner Program is helping communities work together to connect low-income students to the Internet. Since 2011, Comcast has connected more than 8 million low-income families so they can have the tools they need to be ready for anything. Learn more.

HAPPY THURSDAY, DEC. 5. Is it the weekend yet? No, it is not. But perhaps we should find comfort in the possibility the government might do something about all those robocalls.

You can reach today’s host at [email protected] — plus his colleagues Nicole Gaudiano ([email protected]), Michael Stratford ([email protected]) and Bianca Quilantan ([email protected]). Send us your event listings: [email protected]. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

Driving the Day

A COURT FILING THIS WEEK REVEALED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ADDITIONAL CORINTHIAN COLLEGES STUDENT BORROWERS WERE TARGETED FOR COLLECTION BY THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. The new disclosures have infuriated plaintiffs of an ongoing lawsuit against the government.

— In October, after the Trump administration initially said it erroneously collected on the loans of some 16,000 Corinthian borrowers, a federal judge held DeVos in contempt of court and imposed a $100,000 fine for violating an order to stop collecting on student loans from the defunct for-profit college.

— Now, according to the department, that means a total of 45,801 borrowers “were erroneously taken out of forbearance or stopped collections status.” That includes the roughly 29,000 newly identified borrowers, plus the original 16,034 borrowers. “FSA has now placed all 45,801 borrowers in the correct status,” the government’s court filing said.

— What’s to blame for the mixup? The department said an “isolated communication” between Federal Student Aid and its contractors, plus “other logistical issues” caused the undercount. The government said FSA “now believes that it has an accurate account of existing borrower defense applicants.”

— “Students and taxpayers should be infuriated by the Department of Education’s complete disregard for student borrowers,” said Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending. “Secretary DeVos has already been found in contempt of court for her illegal collections on students. Now we find out the impact was far greater than previously reported, and she still hasn’t returned all the money owed to students. It is galling, it’s unlawful, and it can’t be tolerated.”

DEVOS IS SCHEDULED TO THANK ALEC FOR EDUCATION FREEDOM SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT in a speech to the council’s conference in Arizona today, the Education Department said. The proposal, which has found little traction in Congress, would create a new $5 billion federal tax credit for donations to scholarship-granting organizations to pay for students to attend private schools or expand their public education options.

— DeVos is a longtime friend to ALEC's group of conservative state legislators. The secretary’s addressed the group’s conferences before, and drawn protests with a push for local control of education issues.

— Arizona unionists have planned extended protests at ALEC’s conference, and have been aware that DeVos would be visiting.

Higher Education

HARVARD GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE STILL ON STRIKE, and no additional bargaining sessions have been scheduled, teaching assistant and union bargaining committee member Ege Yumusak told POLITICO.

— “We also have non-economic articles unresolved, the most important to us being protections from harassment and discrimination,” Yumusak said. “The administration keeps repeating to the president that there are ongoing negotiations, but our side hasn’t heard back from them about a single scheduled session since the strike started.”

— A Harvard spokesperson said negotiations are ongoing, and the university is reviewing the union’s latest proposal. Read the union’s Dec. 2 economic proposal.

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY HAS A NEW CHANCELLOR: Daniel Diermeier, the University of Chicago’s provost and a former dean of the school’s Harris School of Public Policy, will begin his term as Vanderbilt’s ninth chancellor on July 1, 2020. The German native will replace Nicholas Zeppos, who announced his decision to step down last year. Read more from the Tennessean.

“IF BETSY DEVOS TRULY WANTS TO REFORM OUR STUDENT LOAN SYSTEM, ONE PLACE TO START MIGHT BE FOLLOWING THE LAW AND HOLDING STUDENT LOAN COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR CHEATING STUDENTS,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tweeted on Wednesday about the Education secretary’s proposal to break off the federal government’s nearly $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio to a separate government agency.

In Congress

REP. ROSA DELAURO WANTS FUNDS TO STUDY GUN VIOLENCE, VOICES CONCERN ABOUT ARMING TEACHERS, as budget talks drag on.

— House and Senate appropriators are holding bicameral meetings by subcommittee this week, hoping to minimize or resolve any sticking points with their respective fiscal 2020 bills before punting the biggest problems to committee leaders.

— There are several hang-ups with the Labor-HHS-Education measure in particular, including how much money to give agencies like the National Institutes of Health and whether to mandate federal spending on gun violence research.

— DeLauro, who chairs the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, said funding to study gun violence is “very important to me.”

— “Research is research. We cannot be afraid of research,” she said, adding that she’s concerned about the use of federal funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act to arm teachers. “Teachers don’t want it. So there are a number of things to still talk about."

2020 Watch

THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION HAS POSTED A FIRST BLAST OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS, as the labor giant moves through its endorsement process.

— Five interviews are available: Sens. Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as well as former Vice President Joe Biden. NEA said more interviews will be released as they are filmed, and its website notes a talk with South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is forthcoming.

— You can watch each interview, or better yet, you can read Nicole Gaudiano’s summary.

A. WAYNE JOHNSON STILL ISN’T RULING OUT A 2020 SENATE BID, though he praised Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s controversial chosen replacement for outgoing GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson.

— Johnson, a former top Education Department official who resigned to pursue elected office, congratulated finance executive Kelly Loeffler on her Senate appointment and said he’s “optimistic that Kelly is up to the task."

— “I stepped down from my position in President Trump’s Administration because I have a desire to serve my home-state of Georgia and its residents,” Johnson said.

— Johnson said student loan debt continues to plague Georgia’s students and their families, adding he would urge Loeffler to “devote significant time and energy to overhauling higher education financing.” In the meantime, Johnson said he would continue talking with Georgians before deciding whether to run for office in 2020.

— “I am not ruling out a possible Senate run for 2020," he told POLITICO.

Report Roundup

ENROLLMENT IN TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS IS DECREASING SIGNIFICANTLY NATIONWIDE, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress.

— There were more than one-third fewer students enrolling in teacher preparation programs in 2018 than in 2010, the report concluded. Some states saw “drastic declines” of more than 50 percent.

— The report also concluded that from 2010 through 2018, there was a 28 percent decline in students completing teacher preparation programs.

— “These findings identify several specific and troubling trends that policymakers must address,” the authors wrote. “They also demonstrate that there is still much to understand about certain aspects of teacher preparation programs.”

Movers and Shakers

JONELL SANCHEZ IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF LEARNING AT ACT INC., a new role at the national testing giant.

— Sanchez recently served as vice president for education solutions at the National Student Clearinghouse. He also held roles at Pearson and the College Board.

A message from Comcast: For nearly a decade, Comcast has connected more than 8 million low-income families to the Internet at home through its Internet Essentials program. With an uncertain school year underway, Comcast’s Internet Essentials Partner Program is helping communities work together to connect low income students to the internet. And WiFi-connected “Lift Zones” in community centers nationwide will provide a safe space for students and families to get online, participate in distance learning and do their schoolwork. Learn more.

Syllabus

— Missouri lawmakers float a plan to pay college athletes: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

— Black scholars are not ‘rare creatures’, writes the president of Pomona College in an op-ed: New York Times

— DeVos urged to cut funding for Middle East studies programs that back Israel boycotts: POLITICO Pro

— Reports of sexual, dating and domestic violence leap at Nevada universities: Las Vegas Review-Journal

— The new PISA scores tell us lots about the sad state of American education. What they can’t tell us is how to fix it: The 74

— She’s a ‘star’ Latina professor. But not good enough for tenure at Harvard: Chronicle of Higher Education



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