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Federal policy on education, 2017-2018
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This page tracked major events and policy positions of the Trump administration and the 115th United States Congress on education from 2017 and 2018.
In the first year of his presidency, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of education to rescind any rules and regulations that exerted control over policy matters that by law are under state and local jurisdiction on April 26, 2017. In early 2018, Trump also signed into law two bills that repealed education-related regulations enacted by the Obama administration and held multiple listening sessions on preventing school violence.
Click on the timeline below to learn more about each headline.
- October 16, 2018: Judge rules Education Department must implement borrower defense rule
- March 14, 2018: House passes STOP School Violence Act of 2018
- March 12, 2018: Trump administration releases four-pillar plan to improve safety in schools
- February 23, 2018: DeVos delays implementation of Obama special education policy for minority students
- February 22, 2018: Trump holds listening session with state and local officials on gun violence and school safety
- February 21, 2018: Trump holds listening session on gun violence and school safety with students and teachers
- September 22, 2017: Trump administration issues interim guidance on handling sexual assault on college campuses
- April 26, 2017: Trump signs Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education executive order
- March 27, 2017: Trump signs bills to overturn education regulations finalized under Obama administration
- March 16, 2017: Trump administration releases proposed 2018 budget
- Trump administration officials on education
October 16, 2018: Judge rules Education Department must implement borrower defense rule
On October 16, 2018, Judge Randolph D. Moss, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that the U.S. Department of Education had to implement a borrower defense rule created by the Obama administration. The borrower defense rule established guidance for students seeking loan forgiveness in the event of fraud by a college or university. Under the borrower defense system, a student’s federal loans could be forgiven if the student showed that the school “lied about their job placement rates or otherwise broke state consumer protection laws,” according to The New York Times.[1]
The Obama-era rule was supposed to take effect in July 2017, but Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos delayed the implementation while she worked on proposing new regulations. In September 2018, Moss wrote that DeVos’ decision to delay the rule was arbitrary and capricious.[1]
Moss’ final decision on the rule came in a lawsuit brought against the Department of Education by the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools. Moss ruled that the group was unable to show that the rule would cause harm to the for-profit schools it was representing. He ordered the rule to take effect.[1]
Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said that DeVos “respects the role of the court and accepts the court’s decision. The secretary continues to believe the rule promulgated by the previous administration is bad policy, and the department will continue the work of finalizing a rule that protects both borrowers and taxpayers.”[1]
The borrower defense rule established the following:[2]
- If a student’s school closes while the student is still in school or closes shortly after program completion, the student is eligible for automatic loan discharge.
- Students can apply for loan discharge as a group.
- Schools cannot prevent students from suing the school.
- Schools must accept financial responsibility if the school closes.
June 14, 2017: Department of Education announces delay of two Obama administration regulations
On June 14, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would convene new rulemaking committees for two regulations issued under the Obama administration, one on borrower defense to student loan repayment and one on gainful employment. The borrower defense rule established guidance for students seeking loan forgiveness in the event of fraud by a college or university. The gainful employment rule suspended federal funding for colleges and universities that consistently graduate a certain percentage of students with high debt and low incomes.[3]
Both rules were set to undergo a second rulemaking process, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos delayed the implementation start date of the borrower defense rule, which was slated to go into effect on July 1, 2017. The gainful employment rule had already gone into effect. DeVos stated that the previous rulemaking processes resulted in "a muddled process that's unfair to students and schools" and that the aim of a second rulemaking process was to "protect students from predatory practices while also providing clear, fair and balanced rules for colleges and universities to follow." DeVos also cited a lawsuit challenging the borrower defense standards as a reason for delaying the implementation date. The lawsuit was filed by the trade group California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools, which claimed the new rules would lead to the closure of many for-profit and private vocational schools and that the Department of Education lacked the authority to enforce the rules.[4][5]
On July 6, 2017, the attorneys general of 18 states and the District of Columbia filed suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The suit, which was initiated by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, alleged that by announcing a delay of the regulation's implementation just two weeks before its scheduled July 1 rollout without providing a comment period or justifying the decision based on specific concerns about the regulation's impact or the California lawsuit, the Department of Education had violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The suit sought an overturn of the delay and immediate implementation of the regulation.[6]
March 14, 2018: House passes STOP School Violence Act of 2018
On March 14, 2018, the House passed HR 4909—the STOP School Violence Act of 2018—by a vote of 407-10. The bill proposed providing funding for the following:<ref>[https://rutherford.house.gov/media/press-releases/legislative-update Rutherford.House.gov, "LEGISLATIVE UPDAT
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The New York Times, "Delayed Obama-Era Rule on Student Debt Relief Is to Take Effect," October 16, 2018
- ↑ Associated Press, "Students defrauded by colleges score win in court decision," October 16, 2018
- ↑ NPR, "DeVos Rolls Back For-Profit College Regs, Harvard's President To Step Down," June 17, 2017
- ↑ Federal Register, "Final rule; notification of partial delay of effective dates," July 16, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, "Secretary DeVos Announces Regulatory Reset to Protect Students, Taxpayers, Higher Ed Institutions," June 14, 2017
- ↑ NPR, "18 States Sue Betsy DeVos And Education Dept. Over Delay Of Borrower Defense Rule," July 6, 2017