Biden cancels $72 million in student loan debt for borrowers who went to for-profit Ashford University
Even though President Joe Bidenâs student loan forgiveness program was blocked by the Supreme Court earlier this year, his administration is moving forward with more targeted student debt cancellations allowed under existing programs.
While President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness program was blocked by the Supreme Court earlier this year, his administration is moving forward with more targeted student debt cancellations allowed under current programs.
The Department of Education said Wednesday it is canceling $72 million in federal student loan debt for more than 2,300 borrowers who attended Ashford University, a nonprofit in California.
In total, the Biden administration has approved the cancellation of more than $116 billion in student loan debt for more than 3.4 million people — about 1.1 million of them borrowers who were misled by a for-profit college and provided relief under a program known as the debtors' defense for repayment.
This student debt forgiveness program has been in place for decades and allows people to apply for debt relief if they believe their college is misleading or defrauding them.
My administration will not rely on colleges that benefit from hard-working students and borrowers.
As long as I am president, like those who attended Ashford University, we will never stop fighting to get aid to borrowers in need.\ The Department of Education found that Ashford University made \a number of significant misrepresentations\ to debtors 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 by the California Department of Justice during a successful lawsuit against the school and its then-parent company, Zovio.
The court ruled in favor of the state in March 2022, awarding a fine of more than $22.37 million, which is the subject of an ongoing appeal. \As the California Department of Justice has proven in court, Ashford has relied heavily on high-pressure and deceptive recruitment tactics to lure students,\ U.S.
Department of Education Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a press release.
Borrowers whose debt relief applications have been approved because of this action can expect to receive an email in September.
They won't have to make any payments for discharged loans when monthly payments resume in October following the end of the pandemic-related pause.
Last year, Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for low- and middle-income borrowers.
The proposal would have forgiven roughly $420 billion for tens of millions of borrowers, but was rejected by the Supreme Court and was never enacted.
The Biden administration has been successful in other efforts to alleviate narrower student debt.
Not only did it make it easier to apply for debt cancellation under the debtor defense program, but it also expanded eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which erases outstanding debts for public sector employees after making 10 years of qualifying payments.
In August, the administration launched a new income-driven repayment plan known as SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) that will reduce monthly payments and the amount repaid over time for eligible student loan borrowers.