On November 23, 2016, President Elect Donald Trump chose Betsy DeVos as the new Secretary of Education. DeVos, education advocate and former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, has said very little about her plans for law school debt, but potentially represents a change in direction from the strides made by the Obama administration to make managing the cost of law school easier.
DeVos currently serves as the Chair of the American Federation for Children (AFC), a national organization that advocates for the privatization of K-12 public school programs. The primary goal of the organization is to support the use of school vouchers, or allowing a parent to use government funds toward private school tuition in lieu of sending a child to public school. In addition to her current position at AFC, DeVos led an unsuccessful campaign in 2000 to amend the Michigan constitution to allow such vouchers.
DeVos’ passion for privatization has left education advocates divided on the path she would take, with regards to higher education debt. Peter McPherson, friend of DeVos and president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, says that while DeVos’ plans for student debt are unclear, her passion for privatization should serve as evidence that she works hard on any cause she pursues. Additionally, McPherson proffers, DeVos’ history of advocacy for school voucher programs is rooted in her desire to ensure that low income students have an opportunity for a quality education, and would likely translate to DeVos pursuing higher education policies that contain “themes…in opportunity.” On the other hand, DeVos’ critics, including Professor Robert Kelchen of Seton Hall University, wonder whether DeVos’ history of voucher advocacy will result in a Department of Education focused too much on privatizing K-12 programs and too little on policies that impact higher education issues, including issues around student loans.
DeVos has also received a lot of backlash in recent days from the education community over her lack of experience in the education sector. The president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, has said that DeVos, who lacks a formal education degree or teaching experience, “has no meaningful experience in the classroom or in our schools,” and that “the sum total of her involvement has been spending…wealth in an effort to dismantle public education in Michigan.” For Weingarten and others, including Lily Garcia of the National Education Association, this lack of experience potentially translates into a future Secretary of Education who will be “out of touch…with what works best for students…educators and communities.”
However, DeVos would not be the first Secretary of Education to lack experience or a degree in education. Margaret Spelling, Secretary of Education under George W. Bush, and Richard Riley, Secretary of Education under Bill Clinton, both lacked formal degrees in education. Additionally, not all members of the education community believe that a lack of experience will impede DeVos’ success as Secretary. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) described DeVos as “an excellent choice” for Secretary of Education, and stated that he expected DeVos to play an integral part in removing the pieces of the complex regulatory system currently interfering with the ability of students to easily access financial aid. With such a division present around the impact of DeVos’ experience (or lack thereof) on higher education policy, it may be a while before we fully understand the impact of DeVos’ résumé on law school debt.
All in all, law graduates and current law students must simply wait it out. With any luck, the assertions made by DeVos’ supporters will hold true and we will end up with a Secretary of Education that, despite her inexperience in education, advocates for laws and policies that continue to positively promote the ability of individuals to finance a law school education. Only time will tell.
Equal Justice Works provides support to public interest attorneys, and helps law students learn more about income-driven repayment plans and PSLF. We have a debt relief newsletter, free student debt webinars, and a free student debt e-book, Take Control of Your Future.
Kenneth Strickland is the Student Debt Specialist at Equal Justice Works. Here, he works to ensure that public interest legal jobs remain accessible to all who desire them by engaging in education, outreach, and policy analysis centered around ensuring that an affordable legal education remains an option for everyone. Ken is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and has worked with reputable public service organizations such as North Carolina Advocates for Justice, American Civil Liberties of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Poverty Research Fund.
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