FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

  • Carrie Wofford, Veterans Education Success: (202) 838-5050
  • Will Hubbard, Student Veterans of America
  • Kelly Hruska, National Military Family Association

October 19, 2017 – Today, the White House nominated former senior official at the US Education Department and US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, to be a Commissioner at the US Federal Trade Commission. A graduate of the Wharton School of Business graduate, Chopra brings a deep understanding of financial and student loan markets, and his reasonable, careful approach led to bipartisan collaboration with Congress to ensure thoughtful regulation and consumer protection.

Chopra is considered a bipartisan selection for the seat. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch praised the pick, stating in a press release,

“Rohit Chopra is widely regarded as a leading expert in the protection of consumers and the fairness of our markets. This is a bipartisan package that every Senator should be eager to support.” 

Veterans organizations praised the pick.

In a letter to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, which will hold hearings on the nomination, Jared Lyons, President of Student Veterans of America, a coalition of student veteran organizations on nearly 1,500 colleges and universities nationwide representing more than 1.1 million student veterans in higher education, urged the Senate Committee’s attention to misleading advertising and consumer fraud targeting servicemembers and veterans. “This includes pay day lenders targeting service members near military bases; student loan lenders violating servicemembers’ federal statutory right to a low interest rate, including a zero percent interest rates while serving in hostile war zones; and predatory schools who have systematically engaged in consumer fraud and deceptive advertising targeting student veterans,” Lyons wrote.

Praising Chopra, Lyons wrote that Chopra “worked with us to stop consumer fraud of service members and veterans while serving at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education, and … demonstrated significant expertise on the financial and educational issues of concern to military families.”

National Military Family Association Executive Director Joyce Raezer said, “Rohit Chopra has been a friend to military families and will be an important voice for military families at the FTC.”

Veterans Education Success President Carrie Wofford said, “Rohit Chopra has been a true champion of America’s servicemembers, veterans, military families, and survivors. Both at the US Department of Education and at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he has consistently used his deep understanding of the student loan and higher education marketplaces to protect servicemembers and veterans’ legal rights. For example, his report on servicemembers being denied their statutory right to a low interest rate ultimately led to a $60 million settlement by the Department of Justice that provided refunds to 78,000 servicemembers.”

Holly Petraeus, former director of Servicemember Affairs at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement released by Consumer Federation of America, “I’m delighted to see Rohit Chopra nominated to serve as an FTC Commissioner. He did stellar work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spotlighting abuses that impacted tens of thousands of servicemembers and veterans with student loans.”

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