肯德里克·高森站在康涅狄格州温斯特德的家附近。根据拜登政府时期的一项变更，高森的联邦学生贷本应被注销。
Kendrick Gaussoin near his home in Winsted, Connecticut. Under a Biden-era change, Gaussoin's federal student loans should have been erased.
Raquel C. Zaldívar 摄，供 NPR 使用 肯德里克·高森对十年前那个八月的日子记忆犹新，那一天他成为职业摄影师的梦想突然破灭。
Raquel C. Zaldívar for NPR Kendrick Gaussoin remembers it all so clearly — the August day a decade ago when his dream of becoming a professional photographer suddenly collapsed.
当时他正开车前往位于加利福尼亚州文图拉的布鲁克斯学院校区，这所私营营利性学院是他攻读摄影学士学位的地方。当他到达时，惊讶地发现同学和朋友们聚集在校门外。学校的大门被锁链锁住了。
He was driving to the Ventura, Calif., campus of Brooks Institute, the private, for-profit college where he'd been working on a bachelor's degree in photography. When he pulled up, he was surprised to find classmates and friends milling outside. The school's doors were chained.
“气氛非常诡异，”他回忆道。“大家都在哭。每个人都感觉失去了一切。”
"It was very eerie," he remembers. "Everyone was crying. Everyone felt like they'd lost everything.
布鲁克斯学院被其母公司突然关闭，导致高森和部分同学背负巨额学生贷款债务，却没有获得学位的明确途径。“我彻底灰心了，”高森回忆说。
Brooks had suddenly been shut down by its parent company, leaving Gaussoin and some of his classmates with enormous student loan debts and no clear path to a degree. "I was completely discouraged Gaussoin remembers.
“我基本上就放弃了，过去九年我一直在竭力向前看如今，高森正在重新审视他在布鲁克斯学院遭遇的一切——并试图让自己的学生贷款得到注销。
"I basically gave up, and I've spent the past nine years really just trying my best to move forward Today, though, Gaussoin is revisiting what happened to him at Brooks — and is trying to get his student loans erased.
三十多年来，联邦法律要求美国教育部长取消符合条件的借款人的债务，这些借款人的学校突然关闭，这一过程被称为“学校关闭注销”。但周三提起的一起诉讼指控特朗普政府非法拒绝完全遵守该计划的所有规则。
For more than three decades, federal law has required the U.S. secretary of education to cancel the debts of qualified borrowers whose schools close suddenly, a process known as " closed school discharge " But a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the Department of Education claims the Trump administration is illegally refusing to fully follow all of the program's rules.
该诉讼由非营利借款人权益组织“学生维权”代表高森及潜在的数千名其他借款人在联邦法院提起。教育部告诉 NPR，该部门坚持其对该计划的执行。
The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Student Defense, a nonprofit borrower advocacy group, on behalf of Gaussoin and potentially thousands of other borrowers. The Education Department told NPR it stands by its implementation of the program.
关闭学校贷款核销如何运作 根据美国无党派机构政府问责局的一项审查，2010年至2020年间，有1100多所高校关闭，其中包括布鲁克斯学院，这使得24.6万名借款人符合关闭学校贷款核销的资格。
How closed school discharge works According to a review by the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office, between 2010 and 2020, more than 1,100 colleges closed, including Brooks, leaving 246,000 borrowers eligible for a closed school discharge.
要获得传统核销的资格，借款人必须：1）在学校关闭时处于注册状态，或者2）在学校关闭前不超过六个月离开学校。
To qualify for a traditional discharge, borrowers have to either 1) have been enrolled at the time of closure or 2) have left school no more than six months before the closure.
高索因所在的布鲁克斯学院于2016年8月关闭。但在2015年12月，他请了八个月的长期假去当摄影师。由于学校在他返回时正在关闭，高索因的请假使他超出了该项目的标准追溯期窗口。他离开的时间太长，无法核销贷款。但在将近十年后的2025年，高索因的运气似乎发生了变化。
Gaussoin's school, Brooks Institute, closed in August 2016. But in December 2015, he took an eight-month leave of absence to work as a photographer. Because the school was closing as he returned, Gaussoin's leave put him beyond the program's standard look-back window. He had been away too long to have his loans discharged. But nearly a decade later, in 2025, Gaussoin's luck appeared to change.
在拜登政府即将卸任之际，教育部为曾就读于数所关闭学校（包括布鲁克斯学院）的借款人扩大了追溯期窗口。
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Education Department expanded the look-back window for borrowers who had attended several closed schools, including Brooks.
根据这项变动，任何在2015年5月6日当天或之前注册的借款人，都有资格获得贷款核销以及以往还款的退款。高索因突然符合了资格。
Under the change, any borrower who was enrolled as of May 6, 2015, would qualify for a loan discharge and refund of any past payments. Gaussoin was suddenly eligible.
在2025年1月6日的一份命令中，教育部当时的副部长詹姆斯·克瓦尔写道，政府正在扩大资格窗口，因为这些学校是在“特殊情况”下关闭的，这为对借款人采取更多宽大处理提供了正当理由。
In an order dated Jan. 6, 2025, the department's then-undersecretary, James Kvaal, wrote that the administration was expanding the window of eligibility because the schools had been closed under "exceptional circumstances," justifying more leniency for borrowers.
特朗普政府时期的驳回 高索因在夏天得知了拜登时期的这一变动。2026年8月23日，他申请了关闭学校贷款核销，并在申请中指出他现在落在了新扩大的追溯期窗口内。一周后，在日期为8月31的一封信中，特朗普政府拒绝了他关于减免贷款的请求。
Denials under Trump Gaussoin learned about the Biden-era change over the summer. On Aug. 23, 2026, he applied for his closed school discharge, noting in his application that he now falls within the new, expanded look-back window. A week later, in a letter dated Aug. 31, the Trump administration denied his request for loan forgiveness.
在拒绝信中，高松被告知他不符合拜登政府之前的传统资格要求。美国国家公共电台（NPR）询问教育部为何似乎无视拜登时期的资格扩大政策，教育部发言人艾伦·基斯特回复了以下声明：“拜登政府一心一意地实施非法政策，将学生贷款债务转嫁给每一位辛勤工作的美国纳税人。字面上讲，在离任前几天，前拜登政府副部长以一笔（数字）签名，不当地为前一届政府针对的某些机构扩大了闭校贷款豁免的回溯期。” 将这一权力视为“非法”，对特朗普政府的教育部来说是新做法。
In the denial letter, Gaussoin was told he did not meet the traditional pre-Biden eligibility requirements. NPR asked the department why it appeared to be ignoring the Biden-era eligibility expansion, and Education Department spokesperson Ellen Keast responded with this statement: "The Biden Administration was laser-focused on implementing unlawful policies to shift student loan debt onto the back of every single hardworking American taxpayer. Literally days before leaving office, the former Biden Under Secretary used the stroke of a (digital) pen to inappropriately expand the closed-school discharge period for certain institutions targeted by the previous Administration." Viewing this authority as "unlawful" is new for a Trump Education Department.
2019年11月，在特朗普第一任期内，教育部长贝琪·德沃斯曾引用“特殊情况”，使用同一权力为曾就读于陷入困境的科罗拉多艺术学院和伊利诺伊艺术学院的借款人扩大了回溯窗口。“学生们受到了辜负，理应得到补偿，”德沃斯当时表示，“通过取消这些学生的贷款……以及延长闭校贷款豁免期限，我们希望这些受影响的学生现在能拥有完成学业所需的工具和资源。”
In November 2019, during the first Trump administration, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used the same authority citing "exceptional circumstances," to expand the look-back window for borrowers who had attended the troubled Art Institute of Colorado and the Illinois Institute of Art. "Students were failed and deserve to be made whole," DeVos said at the time "By canceling these students' loans … as well as extending the closed school discharge period, we hope that these impacted students will now have the tools and resources they need to complete their education."
“从法律上讲，部长有权扩大[资格]窗口，”邦妮·拉特雷尔说，她曾在拜登政府期间担任联邦学生援助办公室（FSA）的高级官员。拉特雷尔表示，如果特朗普政府现在试图悄悄无视或撤销这一规则变更，“我认为这会引发法律警示。”
"Legally, the secretary has the authority to expand the window [of eligibility]," says Bonnie Latreille, a former top official in the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) during the Biden administration. If the Trump administration is now trying to quietly ignore or revoke that rule change, Latreille says, "then I think that raises legal flags.
拉特雷尔在教育部经历拜登和特朗普政府交接期间曾在联邦学生援助办公室工作。她说，一位部门高级官员指示她，在未获得即将上任的特朗普团队批准前，不要立即使用扩大后的回溯窗口处理任何闭校贷款豁免申请。
Latreille worked at FSA as the Education Department was transitioning between the Biden and Trump administrations. She says a top department official instructed her to not immediately process any closed school discharges using the expanded look-back window without approval from the incoming Trump team.
美国国家公共电台（NPR）采访了另外两名前教育部官员，他们证实了拉特雷尔的说法，但要求NPR不要使用他们的名字，因为他们担心公开发声会遭受职业报复。
NPR spoke with two other former department officials who corroborated Latreille's story but who asked that NPR not use their names because they feared professional repercussions for speaking out.
本周提起的诉讼中，“学生维权组织”的律师辩称，特朗普政府不能简单地无视或放弃拜登时代的那些变更，因为这些变更完全在教育部的法定权限范围内。
In this week's lawsuit, attorneys at Student Defense argue that the Trump administration cannot simply ignore or abandon the Biden-era changes, because those changes were made well within the bounds of the department's legal authority.
多位与该案无关的高等教育律师告诉NPR，如果特朗普政府想要撤销这些变更，就必须像拜登政府那样：构建一个合理的法律解释，然后向公众公布。教育部未回应提供其无视拜登时代变更的法律依据的请求。“这在开玩笑吧？”
Multiple higher education attorneys not associated with the case told NPR that if the Trump administration wants to reverse those changes, it would have to do what the Biden administration did: build a reasoned, legal explanation and then share that with the public. The department did not respond to a request to share its legal justification for ignoring the Biden-era changes. "This is a joke, right?"
高索安并不知情，布鲁克斯学院多年来一直陷入麻烦。这所成立于1945年的视觉艺术学院曾享有盛誉。但在1999年出售后，招生人数开始下降，因为借款人指责布鲁克斯采用高压销售手段，谎报毕业率和就业率，并误导学生关于学校高昂费用的情况。
Unbeknownst to Gaussoin, Brooks had been in trouble for years. Founded in 1945, the visual arts school was once well regarded. But after its sale in 1999, enrollment began to decline as borrowers accused Brooks of high-pressure sales tactics, lying about graduation and job placement rates and misleading students about the school's high cost.
高索安的母亲克里斯汀·高索安申请了家长PLUS贷款来支付儿子的学费。她说学校让她相信，她的贷款足以覆盖肯德里克在布鲁克斯的费用。计划是让他毕业时无债一身轻。
Gaussoin's mother, Christine Gaussoin, took out Parent PLUS loans to pay for her son's education. She says the school led her to believe that her loans would be enough to cover Kendrick's costs at Brooks. The plan was for him to remain debt free.
“然后我收到顾问的一封邮件，”她回忆道，“上面写着：‘我们还需要更多钱。’我当时想，‘我已经没钱了。’”当时，克里斯汀说她正靠残疾救济金生活，正在从全膝关节置换手术中恢复。
"Then I get an email from the counselor," she remembers. "It says, 'We need more money.' And I was like, 'I'm tapped out.'" At the time, Christine says she was living on disability while recovering from a total knee replacement.
“然后肯德里克给我打电话说，‘我需要你写一封信，说我不再是你的受赡养人。’我说，‘真的？’他说，‘对。我要申请联邦贷款，好完成学业。’”克里斯汀停顿了一下，回忆起这次谈话。“一个母亲能怎么办呢？”
"Then Kendrick calls me and says, 'I need you to write this letter that says I'm not your dependent anymore.' I was like, 'Really?' He's like, 'Yeah. I'm going to take out federal loans so I can finish the degree.'" Christine pauses, remembering this conversation.
当肯德里克打电话告诉母亲，学校的大门被锁链锁上时，她记得当时想：“这是开玩笑吧？真的，这肯定是个玩笑，因为他刚刚申请了那些联邦贷款，而我不知道该对他说什么。”过去10年里，肯德里克和他的母亲都感受到了这些贷款的沉重。
"What is a mom to do?" When Kendrick called his mother to tell her the schools' doors had been chained shut, she remembers thinking, "This is a joke, right? Really, this was a joke, because he had just taken out those federal loans, and I didn't know what to tell him." For the past 10 years, Kendrick and his mother have both felt the weight of those loans.
他现在已经结婚，有两个年幼的孩子，在一家网上零售商工作。他背负着近22000美元的学生贷款债务（包括利息），却没有学位。
He is now married with two young children and works for an online retailer. He's saddled with nearly $22,000 in student loan debt, including interest, but no degree.
“我一直在努力靠最低工资生存，”肯德里克说。“这真的很难。”
"I've been working hard at just trying to survive off minimum wage," Kendrick says. "It's been really tough.
克里斯汀说，她也在零售业工作，欠下约28000美元，担心自己可能永远还不清，尽管她的债务在技术上也符合拜登时代变革下的免除条件。她本月申请的学校关闭免除被拒绝了。
Christine says she also works in retail and owes about $28,000 that she worries she may never pay off, even though her debts also, technically, qualify for discharge under the Biden-era change. Her application for a closed school discharge was denied this month.
克里斯汀说，她后悔自己和儿子轻信了这所陷入困境的学校的承诺。
Christine says she regrets how she and her son fell for the promises of a troubled school.
“学校向我们保证，这将是他的敲门砖——让他能赚到作为摄影师所能赚到的最多的钱，”她回忆道。
"The school promised us that this was gonna be his ticket — to make the most money he will ever be able to [as a photographer]," she remembers.
然而，十年过去了，这所学校和高索因一家未偿还的债务依然在拖累着他们。
Instead, a decade later, the school and the Gaussoins' unpaid debts are still holding them back.