DeVos Watch is looking for verifiable information that Department of Education practices under Secretary Betsy DeVos, DoE employees or contractors, are not following federal education laws with regard to federal student aid programs.
“Tips from whistleblowers can provide valuable information about whether the Department’s actions are legal and ethical, and whether they honor the trust that students and taxpayers put in the Department,” according to DeVos Watch, a microsite established by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
In her CNN op-ed, Warren wrote:
“Early in the Obama administration, Congress gave full ownership of the federal student loan portfolio to the Department of Education, removing middlemen from the program and cutting out the profits that private banks skimmed off the system. This was a brave move that required standing up to some very powerful banks and private businesses that wanted to keep on skimming.”
Warren addressed DeVos’s connections to recent scandals related to overcharging and fraud from federal education funds and student loan programs, adding:
“Secretary DeVos’ destructive policies on debt collection remain in place. And she recently ripped up critical reform policies that protect student loan borrowers from loan servicing companies like Navient that have demonstrated over and over their lack of concern for students.”
Navient, also known as Sallie Mae, entered into a $60 million settlement in 2014 with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations of charging military service members excessive student loan rates. The federal student loan servicer was required to compensate its victims.
Warren believes DeVos has assembled a team that will actively undermine efforts to protect students from being deceiving into taking loans that cost more than advertised, or abusing federal student aid programs.