Economics
Trump’s Education Chief in Hot Seat Over Student-Debt Collection
- Federal judge ‘astounded’ by U.S. agency’s ‘gross negligence’
- Instead of forgiving debts, government seized students’ wages
Betsy DeVos, secretary of education, appears at a conference in Washington on June 11.
Photographer: Alex Edelman/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos faces potential sanctions or a finding she’s in contempt of court for continuing to collect on the debt of former students at bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc., going so far as seizing their tax refunds and wages.
“I’m not sure if this is contempt or sanctions,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim told lawyers for the Education Department at a hearing Monday in San Francisco. “I’m not sending anyone to jail yet but it’s good to know I have that ability.”