The Gavel: Blog Archive - Student Loan Oversight ...NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Testifies Before Congress...

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Student Loan Oversight

April 26th, 2007 by Jesse Lee

Yesterday the Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on student loan practices, an ongoing top priority of Chairman George Miller.

U.S. Is Lax on Loans, Cuomo Says
Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times - April 26, 2007

New York’s attorney general on Wednesday accused the federal Education Department of being lax in regulating the student loan industry and said that criminal charges might result from his continuing investigation into ties between universities and lenders.

In testimony before the House education committee, the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, said that as the housing secretary in the Clinton administration he was “not quick to criticize” a federal agency.

“However,” he said, “I believe in this case, the Department of Education has been asleep at the switch.”

Mr. Cuomo also announced that two more banks, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, had signed on to a code of conduct barring lenders from giving financial incentives to universities, or payments or trips to university officials, to win favor for the lender.

Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the committee, said that he had asked Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to testify and criticized the department’s “slowness to react to the situation.” Ms. Spellings is scheduled to appear May 10.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s prepared remarks (pdf) >>

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s opening statement as given:

Mr. Cuomo: “It has recently been reported that the Department of Education rule-making process which was supposed to resolve these issues has broken down. To me, Mr. Chairman, that is like saying the fire truck has stalled on the way to the fire. It is simply unacceptable that the DOE can fail to right these wrongs in the midst of the disturbing revelations, and at a time when students all across the nation are clamoring for guidance and help.”

Related Committee press release: Bush Administration ‘Asleep at the Switch’ on College Loan Oversight, Attorney General Cuomo Tells Education Committee >>

Read more about the Student Loan Sunshine Act, as praised by Mr. Cuomo, and see past coverage from the Gavel of the student loan issue in our education category archive.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 11:10 am by Jesse Lee and is filed under Draining the Swamp, Education.