The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it will cancel more than $70 million in student debt for borrowers who say they were defrauded by the for-profit DeVry University — the first time the Education Department has approved such claims for an institution that’s still in operation.
At least 1,800 former DeVry students will get their loans cleared after the department concluded that the school lied about the success of its graduates in order to get new students to enroll. The agency said it plans to force the school to cover the cost of the $71.7 million in loan discharges.
“Students count on their colleges to be truthful,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “Unfortunately, today’s findings show too many instances in which students were misled into loans at institutions or programs that could not deliver what they’d promised.”
DeVry spokesperson Donna Shaults said the allegations predate the school’s current board and leadership. The company was sold in 2018, while the Biden administration’s allegations include a period that ends in 2015.
“Nonetheless, we do believe that the Department of Education mischaracterizes DeVry’s calculation and disclosure of graduate outcomes in certain advertising, and we do not agree with the conclusions they have reached,” Shaults said in a statement.
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