• Outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos advised Congress to vote against canceling student loans, according to a letter obtained by CBS News and Politico.
• Widespread college debt cancellation is not only unfair to most Americans, it is also the most regressive of policy proposals – rewarding the richest sector of our workforce at the expense of the poorest. “she wrote.
• In the apparent farewell letter, DeVos outlined a number of educational policies, including the allocation of direct federal funding to students.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos advised against canceling student loans in a letter sent to Congress on Monday, which was obtained by CBS News and Politico.

In what appeared to be a farewell letter, DeVos reflected “on the past four years and the conversations we’ve had together” and shared some “closing thoughts” with the Kentucky senator.

DeVos highlighted a number of talking points in the letter, including the possibility of direct federal funding for students.

“Instead, let me urge you to provide students with the opportunity to pursue meaningful, stimulating and rewarding learning opportunities,” DeVos wrote. “Let me urge you to fund education – that is, learning – and not a ministry of education. Let me urge you to fund students, not school buildings.”

She also rejected the student loan cancellation in the letter – a policy in which President-elect Joe Biden has expressed support during his next term. Biden already has offers make undergraduate education free in some cases; and expand federal college loan programs. He also suggested giving student borrowers a rebate of $ 10,000 as part of the fight against the coronavirus.

Read more: What a Biden presidency could mean for America’s student debt crisis

DeVos, on the other hand, urged Congress to reject such a proposal.

Above all, I hope you also reject the misguided calls to make college ‘free’ and that two-thirds of Americans who have not incurred student debt or who have repaid student loans responsibly have to pay the bills. ready for those who do the same, ”she wrote in the letter.

Widespread college debt cancellation is not only unfair to most Americans, it is also the most regressive of policy proposals – rewarding the richest sector of our workforce at the expense of the poorest. », She continued.

In December, DeVos prolonged forbearance of student loans until the end of January. Previously, over 40 million student loan borrowers in the United States were not expected to make payments again until the end of 2020, set up a complicated situation for borrowers and the incoming Biden administration.

Although forbearance on student loans expires at the end of the month, the bipartisan $ 908 billion coronavirus relief plan signed by President Donald Trump does not include additional abstentions. It is not immediately clear what the incoming Biden administration will do with regards to politics from its inauguration on January 20 until its expiration date on January 31.