Democrats urge president Joe Biden take three “concrete steps” to forgive student loan borrowers before the end of his term.

In a letter to the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardonaabout 80 legislators asked the Ministry of Education (DOE) to act quickly regarding thousands of student loan borrowers.

THE Democratsincluding senators Bernie Sanders And Kirsten Gillibrandwere particularly concerned that student borrowers continue to repay their debts to predators for-profit colleges.

“Too many student borrowers have fallen prey to predatory schools, most of which are for-profit colleges. These for-profit colleges have a long history of disproportionately enrolling veterans, low-income students, students of color, homeless students, and first-time freshmen. of second-generation students and falsely promising high-quality jobs after graduation,” read the letter sent Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, too many of these borrowers were saddled with debilitating debt, often without a degree. The debt forced many of these borrowers to put their economic lives on hold, forgoing the chance to buy a home and start a family.”

To help these borrowers, lawmakers urged the DOE to repay the student loans issued to the hundreds of thousands of students, which the department had already promised the borrower for military debt relief.

Since 2022, the Department of Education has announced mass releases for more than 1.2 million victims who attended predatory schools.

This included big names from for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix, ITT Technical Institute, Kaplan Career Institute and DeVry University.

However, according to recent court filings, hundreds of thousands of these borrowers still have not had their debts discharged. As of October 31, more than 25 percent of Corinthian Colleges’ borrowers had still not had their loans repaid, and many more had not received the payments they were promised.

“The call to action from some Senate Democrats are addressing some key student debt issues that lawmakers had been trying to get canceled for and now, with a new administration about to move in, they say they may never happen unless until a decision is made now,” said Alex Beene, a professor of financial literacy at the University of Tennessee at Martin, said News week.

“Regardless of your feelings on broader student loan forgiveness, this measure is the right one for Washington. The organizations and lenders reviewed here have a documented history of problems with borrowers, and at this point, the easiest way to The benefit for former students is to cancel their debt and move on.”

Democrats also asked Biden to provide student loan forgiveness to students who had attended about 50 other fraudulent schools, including organizations like the Career Institute, American National University and Premier Education Group.

“Substantial evidence of misconduct already exists for each of these schools,” the letter states. “Defrauded students should not be left behind at institutions that no longer exist.”

Members of Congress also asked Cardona to direct the Department of Education to process all remaining borrower defense release requests. Currently, an estimated 400,000 borrowers still have pending borrower defense release applications.

More than 137,000 people have signed a MoveOn petition asking Biden to issue an executive order to alleviate student debt.

Currently, 42.8 million Americans face student debt, and the collective balance remains above $1.6 trillion.

As president-elect Donald Trump As his second term approaches, he has pledged to dismantle the Department of Education. It could also affect the Pell Grant and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which allow millions of people to receive financial aid.

Trump also ran a for-profit school, Trump University, that students said misled them with false advertising. While Trump University was open from 2005 to 2010, a federal court approved a $25 million settlement in 2018 for former students.

“They are pushing for these actions because they fear that inaction, similar to what they say happened under a previous administration, could delay or deny aid,” said Kevin Thompson, financial expert and founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group. News week.

“The controversy surrounding Trump University, which faces allegations of fraud and misconduct, has increased the urgency of these demands.”

During his term so far, Biden has canceled more than $28 billion in student debt for approximately 1.6 million borrowers who attended predatory schools.

“If these measures are implemented, they will provide much-needed relief to the millions of borrowers who have been defrauded by predatory institutions that have not only harmed individuals but also misused government funds,” it said. Thompson. “However, if no action is taken under the current administration, it is unlikely to be successful under a future administration, as a new administration may prioritize limiting public spending.”