Billions in student loan debt are being canceled for students who were taken advantage of by a chain of for-profit colleges.
During a speech on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris made an announcement that over half a million people have been waiting years to hear.
”I am proud to announce, together with the leaders on this stage, that the Department of Education will cancel all remaining federal student loans for former Corinthian students,” said Harris.
Corinthian Colleges operated a string of for-profit institutions that were found to have defrauded their students.
”Telling students that credits would transfer and telling students that they would be able to take these classes and get really lucrative employment. Which had a very small chance of materializing anyway. They also apparently lied to the government about some of their graduation rates,” said Dr. Morgan Lewing, associate professor of higher education and leadership at Texas A&M University-Central Texas.
Corinthian Colleges was forced to close their campuses, leaving students out to dry.
”Credits couldn’t transfer to other institutions and they didn’t really [couldn't] have because of that high debt. Now the government is stepping and is going to forgive the loans and debt that has been accumulated by those students,” said Lewing.
The Department of Education is forgiving over $5.8 Billion in student loan debt, but it only applies to students at Corinthian Colleges.
"Students who simply wanted to better their prospects in life and instead found themselves taken advantage of by a scam,” said Harris.
That is why experts say this move makes sense.
”It’s just important to remember that this is not synonymous with the widespread narrative on loan forgiveness. It’s very, very different,” said Lewing.
The load forgiveness will take effect immediately and the students affected will receive a notice that their loan has been forgiven.
