Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general calling on the U.S. Department of Education to swiftly implement its recently proposed regulations that would provide needed relief for some of the nation’s most burdened student loan borrowers. In their comment letter to the department, Raoul and the coalition of attorneys general urge the implementation of regulations that would waive or reduce student loan repayments for certain groups of federal student loan borrowers. Raoul and the coalition underscore the critical need for meaningful debt relief to address the nationwide student debt crisis, which disproportionately burdens low-income borrowers and borrowers of color. Specifically, the department’s proposed regulations are designed to provide critical debt relief to:

• Borrowers who have seen their student loan balances balloon through accrued and capitalized interest, and borrowers with older loans. These borrowers have been especially burdened by the misconduct of student loan servicers and the department’s previous misguided policy choices.

• Borrowers who attended a school that failed to meet its obligations to students. Under the proposed regulations, the department will provide debt relief to borrowers who attended schools that lost their Title IV eligibility because of institutional problems related to student outcomes, and schools that failed to provide sufficient value to their students according to departmental determinations. These borrowers did not get the benefit of the education they were promised for the federal loans they took out and should not be left holding the bag for institutional failures.

• Borrowers who would have been eligible for relief under other federal student loan programs, such as income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, but have not successfully enrolled in these programs, often due to the difficulties they face navigating the complex federal loan repayment system.