Trump's Education Boss Exposes How Biden's Debt Forgiveness Was 'Massively' Profitable
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed by President Donald Trump, delivered a sharply critical op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
In her piece, McMahon laid bare how student loan forgiveness policies under President Joe Biden’s administration benefited everyone — except the students themselves.
Her article, titled "Accountability Returns to Student Loans," did not hold back. McMahon argued that Biden’s policies funneled money to colleges, all while leaving students burdened with debt.
She outlined the deeper problems with the structure of student loans. McMahon explained, "Student loans must always be paid back because they are unlike other types of consumer loans."
"If a borrower stops paying a mortgage or a car payment, he will go into foreclosure or find his car repossessed," she continued. "Student loans have no collateral."
McMahon emphasized, "It is impossible to repossess a college degree." Because of this, she added, student debt is "very rarely discharged even in bankruptcy."
She described this reality as a "hard truth" for borrowers — but also turned her criticism toward higher education institutions, accusing them of gaming the system.
"Colleges and universities call themselves nonprofits," McMahon wrote, "but for years they have profited massively off the federal subsidy of loans."
She condemned their strategies of "hiking tuition and piling up multibillion-dollar endowments," while students are left to "graduate six figures in the red."
To back up her argument, McMahon cited a 2015 study that revealed "for every dollar of increased federal caps on subsidized loans, colleges raised tuition by 60 cents."
She also attacked universities for promoting "worthless" degrees, writing, "Colleges continue to accept students to these programs and encourage them to borrow to pay for them."
Throughout her op-ed, McMahon stressed the importance of fairness.
"Accountability is a two-way street," she wrote, asserting that both borrowers and colleges must be held accountable.
"As we push to hold student borrowers to account," she added, "we will also push colleges to be responsible and transparent."
McMahon also blasted Biden’s loan forgiveness efforts, stating, "President Biden never had the authority to forgive student loans across the board."
She referenced the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision against Biden’s loan cancellation plan, asserting, "But for political gain, he dangled the carrot of loan forgiveness in front of young voters."
Additionally, McMahon criticized Biden’s decision to maintain the "temporary Covid-era deferment program," explaining that it allowed students to "rack up a massive debt that is now long past due."
The New York Post highlighted McMahon’s broader initiatives, noting that she is also bringing an end to Biden-era deferments that had let borrowers avoid repayment for years.