SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Department of Education announced the widespread discharge of all remaining federal student loans, totaling $3.9 billion in relief, for those who attended ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech) from January 2005 through the for-profit college’s closure in September 2016:
“It’s been almost six years since the disastrous collapse of the infamous for-profit college chain, ITT Tech. When the ITT Tech house of cards fell in a cloud of scandal, students and taxpayers were the ones left holding the bag. After years of urging the Department of Education to act, I’m relieved to see that these students are finally receiving the relief they are owed after being conned by ITT Tech’s exploitive marketing tactics and faulty degrees.”
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As a result of today’s announcement, 208,000 borrowers will receive $3.9 billion in full loan discharges, including borrowers who have not applied for relief through a borrower defense claim.
Earlier this year, Durbin delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling out ITT Tech for defrauding students and called on the Department of Education to provide former ITT Tech students the relief they were entitled to under the Higher Education Act’s borrower defense provision.
