Everest College (part of Corinthian colleges) is seen through the outer gates on April 27, 2015 in … [+]
Today the Department of Education (ED) announced it is forgiving student loans for former Corinthian College students, bringing relief to 560,000 thousand borrowers who attended the now-closed chain of for-profit colleges. The total amount to be forgiven is estimated to be $5.6 billion.
Corinthian Colleges closed down in 2015 after facing multiple lawsuits and investigations into fraudulent behavior. At its peak, Corinthian enrolled over 100,000 students and collected over a billion dollars in federal financial aid funds annually. Students were lured in through slick advertising and high-pressure enrollment tactics, often telling students they needed to start classes that week, or they would lose their spot.
Repeated state and federal investigations and court cases made clear the egregious behaviors of Corinthian Colleges. Corinthian used aggressive Internet and telemarketing ads to target “low self-esteem” individuals for recruitment. It also misrepresented the accreditation of its programs and actively misled students and loan agencies about the prospects of graduates finding jobs. Corinthian was widely criticized for providing sub-par education and defrauding students, including enrolling students and taking their money and federal aid dollars mere days before it closed its doors….
