SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced a lawsuit Oct. 17 against the U.S. Department of Education over allegations of unlawfully delaying parts of the Gainful Employment Rule.
The Gainful Employment Rule, created during the Obama administration, mandates that for-profit schools properly prep their students for “gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos delayed the rule, which was set to go into effect July 1. According to Becerra and a coalition of attorneys general, the delay is illegal because it is arbitrary.
“Less than a year ago, Donald Trump had to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits against his now-defunct, for-profit Trump University," Beccera said. "Now, as president, his Department of Education seems dead-set on continuing a tarnished legacy of putting predatory for-profit colleges ahead of student. Regardless of his fond nostalgia for those business practices, enough is enough.
"At the California Department of Justice, we will continue working to ensure that all who seek higher education can do so without being saddled unfairly with debt and a sham education. This Administration is legally required to implement the Gainful Employment Rule, and we will fight in court to make sure it does.”
Becerra was joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington state, and the District of Columbia.