Today, Seth Frotman, the student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced his resignation in a letter stating that the bureau has “abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting.”
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can play an important role in protecting student borrowers, having helped hold predatory schools like ITT and Corinthian Colleges accountable for their illegal business practices. Current CFPB leadership is thwarting any and all efforts to enforce student and consumer protection, and obstructing the work of those, like Seth, who would protect students. Seth’s resignation reflects this administration’s alignment with for-profit colleges and predatory corporations rather than the students and taxpayers it is supposed to protect.
The Project on Predatory Student Lending is the leading legal advocate for students cheated by for-profit colleges, representing hundreds of thousands of students in class action lawsuits, including ITT and Corinthian Colleges.
Several advocates and elected officials also voiced concerns about the the Bureau’s unwillingness to fulfill its obligation to students and taxpayers.