Attorney General Kwame Raoul recently sent two letters to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seeking the discharge of federal student loans in cases students were defrauded by their schools, Illinois Institute of Art, Everest College and Westwood College. The Illinois Attorney General’s office has long been a national leader in investigating and enforcing consumer protection violations in the higher education field.  Recently, Attorney General Raoul has overseen the rollout of the state’s first Student Loan Ombudsman, a position created by the Student Loan Servicing Rights Act, to provide a resource for student borrowers struggling with student loan payments. Attorney General Raoul has also advocated for protections for veterans in higher education as part of a coalition of state attorneys’ general. In May 2019, Raoul called on the U.S. Department of Education to automatically discharge student loans for totally and permanently disable veterans. In April 2019, Raoul and members of the coalition called on the U.S. House Education and Labor and Veterans Affairs Committees to increase protections for veterans, who are often targets of for-profit schools. Student borrowers who have questions or are in need of can call the Attorney General’s Student Loan Helpline at 1-800-455-2456. Borrowers can file complaints against their student loan servicer at the Illinois Attorney General’s website.