Student Defense Statement on Donald Trump’s Election as President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2024 

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Student Defense Statement on Donald Trump’s Election as President

 Student Defense President Aaron Ament issued a statement regarding the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States:

 “In 2017, we launched Student Defense to protect hardworking students from being manipulated, defrauded, and discriminated against by predatory colleges and companies emboldened by Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos. We hope the incoming administration will learn from the mistakes of Trump’s first term. If not, Student Defense is poised to head back to court to protect students from harmful policies and to ensure that higher education remains a path to a more equal and just society.”

As part of its mission to promote opportunity through higher education, Student Defense also focuses on safeguarding government institutions and democracy. By using tools like the Freedom of Information Act, Student Defense promotes oversight on issues impacting students and holds federal agencies accountable for following the rule of law.

Throughout Trump’s first administration, Student Defense sued Secretary DeVos, winning victories on issues such as:

• Shortly after opening our doors in 2018, Student Defense sought and obtained the first Temporary Restraining Order against Secretary DeVos, restraining her efforts to reinstate a widely discredited accreditor of for-profit colleges, ACICS.

• In National Education Association v. DeVos, Student Defense successfully blocked the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to delay implementation of the Obama Administration’s “State Authorization” rule, designed to protect students enrolled in online higher education.

• In HERA v. DeVos, also in 2018, Student Defense represented Housing & Economic Rights Advocates over the Department’s unlawful refusal to implement a regulation requiring the automatic discharge of student loans for students who attended schools that closed. This lawsuit spurred $1.8 billion in student loan discharges to more than 150,000 borrowers.

• In Infusino v. DeVos, part of our long-running efforts to remedy the Department’s actions to illegally prop up two for-profit colleges, Student Defense obtained over $11 million in debt relief for our clients. The Department’s actions leading up to this case were later highlighted in a Congressional hearing and reports by the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Department’s Inspector General.

• In Weingarten v. DeVos, Student Defense represented the American Federation of Teachers and its president, Randi Weingarten, alleging gross mismanagement of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which stymied public service workers from meaningful access to that program. The settlement of this case, achieved under the Biden Administration, spurred substantial reforms to the PSLF program.

• Through our Preemption Project, we successfully obtained multiple appellate court rulings to keep the courthouse doors open to student loan borrowers making consumer protection claims against their loan servicers and rejecting a flawed legal interpretation put forth by Secretary DeVos.

Student Defense is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that works to advance students’ rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility.