Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness is ‘regressive and a mistake:’ Former education secretary Bill Bennett

Fox News contributor and former education secretary Bill Bennett denounced President Biden’s decision to forgive close to $6 billion in student loan debt Thursday, calling the move “regressive” and a “mistake.”

The White House announced that it plans to cancel federal student loans for some 560,000 borrowers who attended the now-defunct for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain. Under the new action, hundreds of thousands of students who attended the now-defunct chain will receive $5.8 billion in full loan discharges – the largest of its kind in the Department of Education’s history. 

“I do not support it,” Bennett said. “Now, Corinthian Colleges were a scam, and they were putting a scam on a lot of students. They deserve some punishment and some accountability, but that does not mean the taxpayers have to pay for that, which is what we are doing here.”

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“To relieve these students of the loan – and they should have gone in with the eyes open, buyer beware – is to punish the taxpayer, who many of whom – most of whom – are never going to college of any sort. So again, it’s regressive, and it’s a mistake,” he said.

At its peak, Corinthian was one of the nation’s largest for-profit college companies, with more than 110,000 at 100 campuses across the country.