Attorney General Becerra: Trump Administration Sides with For-Profit College Industry Over Students in Eliminating Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office Dedicated to Protecting Students

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement in response to the decision by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Mick Mulvaney to eliminate the CFPB office dedicated to protecting students:

“Mick Mulvaney, whose very position as Acting Director is legally suspect, has chosen to abandon the CFPB’s office established to oversee college financial aid and lending practices to the sheer delight of predatory for-profit colleges, unscrupulous education lenders and loan servicers, and abusive debt collectors. The Trump Administration is inviting the fox to take charge of the henhouse. Aspiring college students and their parents can smell this raw deal from a mile away.

“Americans who have attended institutions of higher education today face a $1.5 trillion mountain of student loan debt — more than what Americans owe in credit card debt. The biggest targets of the predatory, for-profit education industry are young military servicemembers and first-time college attendees. Now is not the time to take the cop protecting our students off the beat.

“The California Department of Justice has proudly and successfully worked with the CFPB to protect students. We will continue to fight for and defend the work and mission of the CFPB no matter how many times this Administration tries to gut it. And we will fight harder than ever to protect young people from financial fraud and unfair business practices.”