In last major batch of student loan relief, Biden forgives $4.5B for 261K borrowers
Source: USA Today
Published 12:01 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2025 | Updated 12:01 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2025
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration approved its last major batch of student loan relief Wednesday, greenlighting $4.5 billion in forgiveness for 261,000 borrowers.
The recipients of the debt cancellation attended Ashford University, a former for-profit school that the U.S. Department of Education determined made “substantial misrepresentations” about its program quality and costs to federal student loan borrowers. The school was later acquired by the University of Arizona, which enlisted Ashford’s parent company, Zovio, to run its University of Arizona Global Campus.
The federal agency greenlit the relief through legal grounds called borrower defense to repayment, a program that allows the federal government to grant discharges for defrauded students. Borrowers approved through the program usually have taken out loans to attend schools subsequently found to have engaged in misconduct, such as exaggerating how much money students can expect to make after graduation.
James Kvaal, the education under secretary, said in a statement Wednesday that state and local investigations have shown that 90% of Ashford students never graduated. Those who did were left with hefty debt and only able to earn low wages, he said. “Today’s announcement will finally provide relief to students who were harmed by Ashford’s misdeeds,” Kvaal said.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/01/15/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-ashford/77694122007/
Link to Department of Education
PRESS RELEASE -
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Group Discharge for 261,000 Borrowers with Loans from Ashford University