New Jersey Attorney General Leads Actions Against the U.S. Department of Education for Restricting Information Sharing with State Law Enforcement Agencies – JD Supra
Written by: Ballard Spahr LLP
Last week, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal took the lead in pursing two actions against the U.S. Department of Education related to the Department’s alleged refusals to cooperate with state investigations of student loan servicers and for-profit schools.
On September 16, 2019, New Jersey, along with 16 other attorneys general, including New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington, sent a letter to the Department opposing a new policy limiting cooperation with state law enforcement. Specifically, the Department announced on August 16, 2019 that it was eliminating routine access to state law enforcement of borrower demographic and other loan level information related to recipients of federal student financial aid. Citing recent federal investigations that have disapproved of the practices of several student loan servicers and for-profit schools, the joint letter argues that the Department’s new restrictions will impede the ability of state law enforcement to investigate potential misconduct.
This is the third letter sent by the New Jersey attorney general to the Department related to similar changes.