Why was $55.6 million in student debt cancelled by the Biden administration?

The Biden administration took another bite out of the backlog of pending student loan applications and granted an additional $ 55.6 million to 1,800 students defrauded by three for-profit institutions. This brings the total to over $ 1.5 billion that the Department of Education has cut.

The Biden administration inherited numerous claims under the Borrower Defense for Repayment Act, some of which date back to the Obama administration and which accumulated under the Trump administration. Under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, measures taken by the Obama administration to burden schools and streamline the process for students have been reversed.

Federal loan pardoned for 1,800 students from three defunct schools

The Department of Education announced Friday that 1,800 students attending Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty, and the Court Reporting Institute would have their federal student loans waived entirely. This follows the approval of more than $ 1.5 billion in loan waivers to nearly 90,000 alumni from ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges in recent months.

Institutions taking advantage of student borrowers is unacceptable. These measures will help hundreds of thousands of students get the relief they need. https://t.co/lH9HEQRlwZ

– Secretary Miguel Cardona (@SecCardona) July 9, 2021

Westwood College

Most of the canceled debts around $ 53 million will go to 1,600 former students at Westwood College, which closed in 2015. The school, which had campuses from coast to coast, is accused of widespread misrepresentations about students’ ability to transfer credits. This forced students who moved to other institutions to start their studies from scratch at another school.

The Ministry of Education also claims that the institution Misled students in his criminal justice program about the prospect of post-graduate employment as police officers in Illinois. Credits from the school were not accepted by the Chicago Police Department and other law enforcement agencies Forcing students into minimum wage jobs or jobs that did not require a degree, which puts them in a worse position for having attended school.

Marinello beauty schools

More than $ 2.2 million in loan waiver has been granted over 200 former students of the Marinello Schools of Beauty. The ministry noted that between 2009 and 2016 when the institution closed, Students were misled about the type of lessons that would be offered. Borrowers claim schools failed to teach them key elements of a cosmetic program like cutting hair. Additionally, the institution would leave students without tutors for weeks or months. This made it difficult for students to pass the necessary state entrance exams in order to be able to make a living from their education.

News: ED approved more than 1,800 borrower defense claims for borrowers who attended Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty, and Court Reporting Institute, resulting in 100% credit relief and a ~ $ 55.6 million relief. https://t.co/KaLrRMaVwa pic.twitter.com/hinH3hj20T

– U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) July 9, 2021

Institute for Court Reporting

The agency approved requests from 18 applicants to cancel approximately $ 340,000 in student loan debt acquired with the Court Reporting Institute. The majority of students were never able to complete the program, according to the Ministry of Education. Only about two to six percent of students at the school’s three locations in Washington, California, and Idaho have graduated, and those who completed the program took much longer than the institution claimed.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/why-was-55-6-million-in-student-debt-cancelled-by-the-biden-administration/