A federal judge has ruled that the Department of Education continued to collect loan payments from students defrauded by a former private college - even after being ordered to stop.

The department was sued for failing to follow a preliminary injunction to stop attempting to collect on the loans. The defrauded students had sought protection under the Obama-era Borrower Defense program.

Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim found Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to be in contempt, and ordered the department to use $100,000 to help reimburse students.

For more, read the Washington Post story.

Click here to read the court's ruling.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is being sued for violating a judge's order to cancel the federal student loans of defrauded students.

The Obama administration's Borrower Defense program allows students defrauded by for-profit colleges to have their loans forgiven, as well as providing other protections.

The Trump administration rewrote the regulation. The new regulation - which provides substantially less protection - is scheduled to go into effect in 2020.

Meanwhile, the administration delayed implementation of the Obama protections.

A federal court ruled in October that the Obama regulation must be put into effect immediately, and remain in effect until replaced by the Trump administration program.

The lawsuit by the Housing & Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) claims that the Department of Education still is collecting on loans that should be discharged, and is not implementing other protections the program provides.

HERA estimates there are tens of thousands of students eligible to have their student debt automatically discharged under the program.

For more, read the NPR story.

Students seeking to have their federal student loans forgiven because their college defrauded them are finding themselves in the crossfire of competing regulations between the administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

The Borrower Defense program allows borrowers to have those loans forgiven if the school misled them on issues such as accreditation or job prospects.

The Obama administration rules were to take effect in 2017. They made it easier for borrowers to obtain relief - including allowing students to file class actions against a school and requiring financially at-risk schools to provide security that they can reimburse the government.

The Trump administration postponed implementation of the rules until 2019. Meanwhile, it created its own regulation that would take effect then. The Trump administration rules would make it more difficult to obtain relief. They include allowing schools to prevent class actions.

A federal court has ruled that the administration cannot delay implementing the Obama administration rules, though the Trump administration still can implement its own rule for those taking out loans after 2019.

CAPPS Lawsuit threatens class actions

But that doesn't automatically clear the path for today's defrauded borrowers. A lawsuit filed by the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) claims that the government has no authority to stop schools from disallowing class action lawsuits.

Judge Randolph Moss has allowed a delay in implementing the Obama regulations until that suit is evaluated. A ruling is expected Oct. 12.

Update 2018-Oct-12: Moss rejected the arguments by CAPPS - ruling that the protections provided by the 2016 Obama administration rule must be immediately implemented.

For more, read this New York Times article, this Bloomberg story and this NPR story.

Click here to read the Department of Education notice of the changed policy (the Executive Summary runs from pages 4-33)

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced plans to replace Obama administration guidelines for campus officials investigating sexual assaults.

Obama-era policy

The Obama administration policy provides guidance on how schools receiving federal funding should investigate sexual assault complaints. It requires schools to use a preponderance of the evidence standard - that it is more likely than not that sexual harassment or violence occurred - when considering cases.

That's the standard of proof that applies for civil litigation involving discrimination. It is less stringent than the clear and convincing standard previously used by some schools, and much less stringent than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard required to prove guilt in criminal cases.

The guidelines do not apply to criminal cases. They are used solely to determine student discipline. They say campus officials should not delay their own investigation even if a police investigation also is being conducted.

"Conduct may constitute unlawful sexual harassment under Title IX [a federal anti-discrimination law] even if the police do not have sufficient evidence of a criminal violation,", the policy states.

Regardless of any changes in guidelines, students' rights under Title IX, or schools' obligation to investigate sexual assault complaints, would not be affected.

Education Department will consult with "men's rights" groups

DeVos or her civil rights deputy Candice Jackson have met with or plan to meet with various groups with different perspectives on the issue. These groups include ...

They also include "men's rights" groups who claim that sexual assault statistics are overblown - groups including the National Coalition for Men (NCFM) and Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE).

Jackson has stated that 90 percent of campus rape accusations "fall into the category of 'we were both drunk,' 'we broke up and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right.'"

There is no evidence to back up Jackson's claim. Jackson herself later admitted the statement had been "flippant".

The supporting data is difficult to track down

Still, consistent data on sexual assaults is notoriously difficult to pin down and often is used to justify any point of view.

A 2015 survey by the Association of American Universities found that 23 percent of female undergraduates said they had been victims of sexual assault or misconduct.

However, this frequently cited "one-in-four" statistic includes not only rapes and sexual assaults but also other forms of unwanted sexual touching. Also , the statistic might have been inflated because because only 19 percent of students took part in the electronic survey, and non-victims may have been less likely to participate.

A 2014 report from the U.S. Department of Justice found far fewer victims. An average of 6 female students per 1,000 were raped or sexually assaulted each year from 1995 to 2013, according to the report ? or 2.5 percent over an average four-year period. The study found that non-students had a higher rate of victimization.

Both studies, however, had one finding in common: At least three out of four victims did not report their rape or sexual assault.

For more, read The Guardian story.

Click here to read the Obama administration's 2011 Dear Colleague letter outlining the administration's policy guidance.

Click here to read an Obama administration fact sheet on student sexual assaults.

For more on the groups DeVos or Jackson may meet with, see the Politico education blog.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill that would virtually eliminate tuition and fees at all public colleges and universities.

The College for All Act would cover tuition costs for all public colleges.

The bill also would help those with student loans - offering lower interest rates. Those with outstanding student loans would be able to refinance them at a lower interest rate.

For more, read The Nation story.