Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog' - HuffPo [View all]

[WillyT]

Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog'
Shahien Nasiripour - HuffPo
Posted: 12/06/2013 10:13 am EST | Updated: 12/06/2013 10:39 am EST



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In a Thursday interview, the Massachusetts Democrat said she was “deeply concerned” by a Huffington Post report that the Education Department had recently told Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest handler of student loans, that it intended to renew its federal contract to collect payments on federal student loans, despite pending investigations by at least other three federal agencies over allegations the company violated borrowers’ rights.

Warren, a member of the Senate banking and education committees, also said it was “shocking” that the department had not yet recovered some $22 million in allegedly improper payments made to Sallie Mae despite a 2009 recommendation from the department’s inspector general that it recover the debt.

“The Department of Education needs to be aggressive in watching out for students, not for profit-making loan servicers,” Warren said. “They’re there for our students, not to help loan servicers make a profit.”

The criticism comes as Education Secretary Arne Duncan battles perceptions that his department is too soft on the companies it pays to collect on federal student debt, while these companies are alleged to be harming borrowers and violating federal rules. Warren has been among his most outspoken critics, and on Sept. 19 she wrote him a letter demanding answers.

“The whole point of the letter was...

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More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/06/elizabeth-warren-education-department_n_4398107.html