As the Education Department prepares to unveil its plan to provide loan forgiveness to borrowers who attended the defunct Corinthian Colleges, consumer advocates are amplifying their calls for blanket relief.
In a pair of petitions sent on Tuesday, 50 consumer groups and unions asked the department to automatically cancel the debt of a broad group of students rather than requiring each student to prove he or she was a victim of fraud. They argue that the agency, which last month fined Corinthian $30 million for allegedly misrepresenting job-placement rates, has a duty to discharge the debt of all borrowers who were misled by the company.
"These students were playing by the rules, sacrificing to get an education and improve their own and their families’ lives," said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of groups formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. "They should not be buried in debt for a scam that the Department of Education allowed to continue, even once fraud and abuse were clear."
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Dept-Readies/230269