Posted Date:June 9, 2015
| Author: | William Leith, Chief Business Operations Officer, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Loan Servicing Information - Debt Relief Information for Corinthian Students - Briefing Points for Financial Aid Community
On June 8, 2015, the Department of Education (the Department) announced several steps to support students who attended schools owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc. The press release and an accompanying fact sheet are available at http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-protecting-students-abusive-career-colleges.
For some students, this support may include forgiveness of their federal student loan debt. Specifically, Corinthian students may be eligible for loan forgiveness (discharge) if they are in one of the following two situations:
They attended a Corinthian school that closed on April 27, 2015.
They believe they were defrauded by the Corinthian school they attended or that the school engaged in actions that violated applicable state law—regardless of whether that school closed.
In this Electronic Announcement, we provide the financial aid community with some briefing points about the debt relief available to these students.
Key Points – Debt Relief for Corinthian Students
Detailed information about the debt relief available to students who attended Corinthian schools (Everest, Heald, and WyoTech) is provided on StudentAid.gov. The direct page URL is https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/corinthian. In general, schools should refer Corinthian students who request information about the process to this page.
Other points to consider:
A closed school discharge normally only applies to students who withdrew (without completing their program) within 120 days of the school’s closing date, or were attending when the school closed. To assist Corinthian students, the Secretary of Education has extended the timeframe to include any Corinthian student who withdrew from one of its closed schools on or after June 20, 2014. See the website for more information.
Students who attended a Corinthian school—regardless of whether it closed—who believe they were defrauded or that their school violated applicable state law may be eligible for loan forgiveness (discharge) based on a borrower defense to repayment. See the website for more information.
While borrower defense to repayment claims typically require the borrower to specifically show that their school violated state law, the Department’s Heald College findings qualify students enrolled in the covered programs and time periods to apply for a discharge of their Federal Direct Student loans through an expedited process using a simple attestation form. See the website for more information.
We look forward to assisting these Corinthian students and appreciate the financial aid community’s support.