美国国家公共电台 NPR DeVos To Make It Tougher For Defrauded Students To Seek Debt Relief

DeVos To Make It Tougher For Defrauded¹ Students To Seek Debt Relief

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It could become harder for students who were victims of fraud to get rid of their debt. That's because of new rules proposed by the Trump² administration. It says the change will save taxpayers³ from the responsibility of billions of dollars of student loans. NPR's Elissa Nadworny reports.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE⁴: If you attended a school that misled you or engaged in misconduct, there is a government program that helps get relief from your federal student loans. It's called the Borrower's Defense⁵ to Repayment⁶. The rules that explain this program were introduced by the Obama administration in 2016 after a number of high-profile fraud cases involving some for-profit colleges. But Education secretary Betsy DeVos and other critics felt the Obama-era regulations were too broad.

MARY CLARE AMSELEM: Basically any student could raise their hand and qualify for free money.

NADWORNY: That's Mary Clare Amselem from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. Plus, she says, there's the money aspect. When colleges misbehave, taxpayers are on the hook for that student loan money - an estimated $14.9 billion over the next decade, according to the Education Department.

AMSELEM: Shrinking the budget that goes towards Borrower's Defense is definitely a good thing for American taxpayers.

NADWORNY: The biggest change in the DeVos rewrite of the rules? A higher burden of proof on students. Individuals must prove their college's deception⁷ was intentional⁸, showed a reckless disregard for the truth or resulted in financial harm if they want their loans canceled. And that's a high bar for students, says Ashley Harrington, a lawyer at the Center for Responsible Lending.

ASHLEY HARRINGTON: It puts so much responsibility on students and students alone and on no other piece of this puzzle.

NADWORNY: Harrington was involved in the negotiations⁹ of this new rule. And she says, in that negotiation¹⁰ process, she witnessed for-profit lawyers make a number of suggestions, many of which appear in the new rules.

HARRINGTON: This new version reads like a roadmap for how for-profits can continue to behave badly and avoid accountability.

NADWORNY: In a statement, Secretary DeVos disagrees. Our commitment and our focus, she says, is on protecting students from fraud. And she says the new regulations will spell out clear rules for that. Student advocacy groups worry those clear rules could be so strict few students would qualify. The changes are open to public comment for 30 days. One big question the department is asking - should relief be limited to students in default, or should folks actively¹¹ repaying their loans get help too? Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF TORO Y MOI'S "SAY THAT")

1 defrauded   

v.诈取，骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He defrauded his employers of thousands of dollars. 他诈取了他的雇主一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He defrauded them of their money. 他骗走了他们的钱。 来自辞典例句

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

7 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

8 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

11 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。