Last year was a momentous time for higher education in America, and not at all in a good way. For all the Democrats’ rhetoric lauding education as the key to hope and opportunity for everyone, they cheered heartily as Joe Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) took a jackhammer to the road to higher education for perhaps millions of current and future students who may soon have no path. Taxpayers, our nation’s workforce and learning institutions themselves also took significant hits from an education agenda driven by leftist ideology. Using the proverbial report card to summarize the past year, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and his agency have earned solid “Fs” with a grade point average that would make Bluto Blutarsky beam with pride.
Worse than any fraternity on double-secret probation, the DOE ran amok over the rules of common sense and decency, using political power to reward friends and punish enemies. The highlights – though lowlights are a more accurate characterization – of Biden’s higher education blueprint are dissected below to clear the fog and expose the deliberate political intent behind each atrocious policy.
Student Loan Bailout Tossed by the Supreme Court. Joe Biden made it a fixture of his presidential campaign to eliminate the student loan debt for millions of borrowers. Despite his promise, many leaders – including then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi – noted the lack of a legal authority to actually accomplish this feat. Since Day One the DOE has sought to circumvent the law to achieve a political win through a taxpayer-funded bailout using emergency powers.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court ruled in June this was in violation of the U.S. Constitution. In the majority opinion, the Supreme Court pointed out that the DOE does not have the authority to cancel student debt on a massive scale. After the ruling, Biden ominously warned that “the fight is not over,” keeping his options open for an end-around to the Court’s ruling.
Finalized a Gainful Employment Rule (GER) that hurts students. In September, the DOE unveiled new regulations that target students who want to attend certain proprietary and career-oriented colleges long disfavored by Democrats because they live outside of the dictates of the entrenched and elitist educational establishment. The so-called Gainful Employment Rule establishes a new, two-pronged test that sets arbitrary standards with the unspoken goal of shuttering career colleges – institutions of higher education that prepare students with important trade skills before they enter the workforce.
These proposed requirements would affect more than 700,000 students per year and apply to all programs offered by for-profit colleges while completely exempting students seeking a degree at a traditional four-year or state funded college. By stifling students’ ability to attend programs at career colleges, the DOE is pushing students to the traditional private and public colleges many sought to avoid.
Ongoing Disregard for the Law Through More Taxpayer Bailouts. Despite being checked by the Supreme Court in June, President Biden continues to disregard the law and implement new student loan bailout schemes. Over the course of the year, the DOE announced its plan to cancel $53 billion in student debt for a select group of borrowers, most of which were canceled through the Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan.
Since entering office, the Biden administration has approved more than $130 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers, an amount that will be added to the tab of the more than 80 percent of adult Americans who have no student loan debt or did not even attend college.
DOE’s Assault on Florida Career College (FCC). In April, the Department of Education announced it would bar Florida Career College from participating in federal financial aid programs. The Education Department’s action to block FCC students from receiving federal student aid is just the latest example of the department serving as judge and jury to unilaterally force schools to close without due process and another outrageous example of its vendetta against career colleges. Shuttering FCC without due process not only needlessly pink slips professors and employees but disrupts the life of every student and tosses their future up in the air. These are the acts of an agency that cares only about expanding its power without the slightest concern for students and their choice of institution.
90/10 Rule Now in Effect. In July of this year, the DOE’s updated 90/10 rule officially went into effect. Under the tightened new regulations, earned military education benefits from sources like the GI Bill now fall under the category of federal financial aid rather than as a part of student funds. And under the Higher Education Act, targeted schools must generate more than 10 percent of their revenues from non-federal sources. As a result, this rule will devastate colleges that offer educational services to veterans.
Looking ahead to 2024, there are only a handful of actions that Congress can take to rein in the DOE to protect students and defend choice in higher education, ranging from comprehensive reform to piecemeal actions to block the implementation of the agency’s more egregious rules. Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee are united in their commitment to push back against Biden’s irresponsible vote-buying strategy, which they can accomplish through oversight hearings, legislation, and investigations that will shine some sunlight into the back rooms of Cardona’s agency.
The blatant assault of educational opportunity for millions of non-traditional students is the exact opposite of what the DOE should be doing with their $80 billion budget. Only by exposing their antics and through public pressure can we expect better grades from Biden’s education activists in 2024.
Gerard Scimeca is an attorney and chairman of CASE, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, a free-market-oriented consumer advocacy organization.