U.S. Department of Education Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

U.S. Education Dept. Launches First Federal Effort To Track School Reopening

By NPR News February 6, 2021

School children wearing facemasks walk outside Condit Elementary School near Houston in December. The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it will begin collecting data on the status of in-person learning during the pandemic. François Picard/AFP via Getty Images

Ever since the pandemic closed the nation's schools in March 2020, there has been no official national source for understanding where schools have reopened, how many hours of live instruction students are getting online and just how unequal the access to learning has been over the past 11 months.Read More

Miguel Cardona, Biden’s Education Secretary Nominee, Is New To D.C. — But Not To Classrooms

By NPR News February 2, 2021

On Wednesday, lawmakers will have some tough questions for Miguel Cardona, President Biden's nominee to be the next U.S. education secretary. The Connecticut educator will no doubt have to navigate the choppy policy waters of school choice, how to close opportunity gaps and, most critically, how he would help schools reopen as the pandemic rages.Read More

Education Department Extends Student Loan Payment Freeze Through January

By NPR News December 4, 2020

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appears in Phoenix in October. On Friday, the Education Department announced an extension of pandemic relief measures for federal student loan borrowers. Matt York/AP

Congress hit pause on federal student loan payments in the CARES Act. The latest extension of this relief will last until after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.Read More

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Loses Latest Fight Over Rerouting Aid To Private School Students

By NPR News September 12, 2020

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos backed a rule that would have increased private schools' share of CARES Act dollars from $127 million to $1.5 billion, according to one analysis. CREDIT: Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A federal judge says U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos overstepped in trying to send more CARES Act money to help students at private schools.Read More

Education Department Rule Limits How Schools Can Spend Vital Coronavirus Aid Money

By NPR News June 26, 2020

In April, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued guidance suggesting private schools should benefit from a representative share of federal coronavirus aid money. Alex Wong/Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos signaled she is standing firm on her intention to reroute millions of dollars in coronavirus aid money to K-12 private school students.Read More

Congress Gave Colleges A $14 Billion Lifeline. Here’s Where It’s Going

By NPR News May 18, 2020

Like so many sectors of the economy, higher education is taking a big hit from the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education has so far distributed more than $10 billion in relief funds to colleges. Read More

Colleges In Washington And Across U.S. Cancel In-Person Classes In Response To Coronavirus

By NPR News March 9, 2020

Many schools paused in-person classes after students or staff members tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Others say the cancellations are a precaution.Read More

Teachers Union Lawsuit Claims Betsy DeVos ‘Capriciously’ Repealed Borrower Protections

By Elayne Rojo-Rodriguez January 22, 2020

Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers, says the message of her organization's lawsuit is clear: "Protect the students of the United States of America — not the for-profit [schools] that are making a buck off of them."

Before its repeal, the gainful employment rule served as a warning to certain colleges: If graduates didn't earn enough money to pay their student debts, schools could lose access to federal aid. Read More

Betsy DeVos Overruled Education Department Findings On Defrauded Student Borrowers

By NPR News December 11, 2019

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies before the Senate education committee. CREDIT: Zach Gibson/Getty Images

The education secretary says many students who were defrauded by for-profit colleges don't deserve full relief from their loans. Department memos show career staff arguing the opposite.Read More

Exclusive: Turf War Blocked CFPB From Helping Fix Student Loan Forgiveness Program

By NPR News October 15, 2019

Kathleen Kraninger is director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that was thwarted by the U.S. Department of Education from examining problems with a troubled student loan forgiveness program. CREDIT: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Trump administration blocked the nation's top consumer protection agency from digging into problems with a program designed to help police, firefighters and other public service workers. Read More

Congress Promised Student Borrowers A Break. Education Department Rejected 99% Of Them

By NPR News September 5, 2019

Applicants stamped with a "denied" stamp. Delphine Lee/NPR

When a loan forgiveness program for public servants wasn't working, Congress created a temporary fix. Documents obtained by NPR show that the program didn't fix much.Read More

Teachers Begin To See Unfair Student Loans Disappear

By NPR News May 3, 2019

The Department of Education is expanding a fix to its troubled TEACH Grant program, giving millions of dollars of grant money back to public school teachers working in the country's neediest schools.Read More

Betsy Devos Proposes New Education Dept. Rules To Protect Students Accused Of Sexual Assault

By Scott Leadingham November 16, 2018

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks with the media after a series of listening sessions about campus sexual violence in July 2017. Among the significant changes is that schools can make it harder to prove allegations. Alex Brandon/AP

Among the significant changes is that schools could make it harder to prove allegations. Instead of only a "preponderance of the evidence," schools could demand "clear and convincing evidence."Read More

Why Public Service Loan Forgiveness Is So Unforgiving

By NPR News October 18, 2018

Seth Frotman, former student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, poses at NPR headquarters in September. Frotman and his team reviewed thousands of complaints about the questionable practices of student loan companies.

Ninety-nine percent of applications for Public Service Loan Forgiveness have been denied. A former student loan watchdog saw it coming.Read More

White House Proposes Merging Education And Labor Departments

By NPR News June 21, 2018

The pitch goes all-in on workforce development and imagines a mobile-first platform for student borrowers. It's part of a proposal to restructure federal government. Congress would have to approve.Read More

Federal School Safety Commission Holds First Public Session. Its Chair, Betsy DeVos, Wasn’t There

By NPR News June 10, 2018

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Chairs the Trump Administration's School Safety Commission. She is seen here during a House Education and the Workforce Committee meeting in May 2018.

The Trump administration's school safety commission held its first public listening session June 6, a day after the panel's chair, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the commission wouldn't focus on guns. DeVos didn't attend the listening session. She was in Switzerland.Read More