Washington CNN –
Even though President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program was blocked by the Supreme Court earlier this year, his administration is moving forward with allowing more targeted student loan cancellation under existing programs.
The Department of Education said Wednesday it is canceling $72 million in federal student loans for more than 2,300 borrowers studying at for-profit Ashford University in California.
In total, the Biden administration has approved the cancellation of more than $116 billion in student loans for more than 3.4 million people — about 1.1 million of whom are borrowers who were misled by a for-profit college and called Borrower Defense. Relief was given under a program. for repayment.
This student loan forgiveness program has been around for decades and allows people to apply for debt relief if they feel they have been misled or defrauded by their college.
“My administration will not stand by colleges taking advantage of hardworking students and borrowers. As long as I’m president, we will never stop fighting to provide relief to borrowers who need it most – like those studying at Ashford University, Biden said in a statement.
The Department for Education found that Ashford University made “multiple material misrepresentations” to borrowers between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2020. The school is now known as the University of Arizona Global Campus.
The Department of Education’s review was based on evidence presented in court at the time by the California Department of Justice during a successful lawsuit against the school and its parent company, Zovio.
The court ruled in favor of the state in March 2022, ordering a fine of more than $22.37 million – which is the subject of an ongoing appeal.
“As the California Department of Justice proved in court, Ashford relied extensively on high-pressure and deceptive recruiting tactics to entice students,” US Under Secretary of Education James Quale said in a press release.
borrowers whose debt relief Applications that have been approved due to this action can expect to receive an email in September. They will not have to make any payments on the loan being repaid when monthly payments resume in October after the end of the pandemic-related pause.
Last year, Biden announced plans to cancel federal student loans of up to $20,000 for low- and moderate-income borrowers. The proposal would have forgiven about $420 billion for millions of borrowers, but was struck down by the Supreme Court and never went into effect.
The Biden administration has been successful in other efforts to provide narrow student loan relief. This has not only made it easier to apply for loan cancellation under the Borrower Protection Program, but also Eligibility was also expanded for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which wipes out outstanding debt for public sector workers after they have made 10 years of qualifying payments.
In August, the administration introduced a new income-driven repayment plan, known as SAVE (Savings on Value Education), which lowers the monthly payment and the amount paid over time for eligible student loan borrowers. Will give
Source: www.cnn.com
