Facing a federal lawsuit and mounting criticism, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday said she will forgive loans for more than 1,500 borrowers who attended a pair of for-profit colleges that shut down last year.
Students who attended the Art Institute of Colorado and the Illinois Institute of Art from Jan. 20, 2018, through the end of last year will have their federal student loans canceled, DeVos said, and students who attended another 24 schools owned by the same company can get their loans erased if they enrolled after June 29, 2018.
The decision involves schools owned by the Dream Center company, which collapsed last year and shuttered campuses across the nation, following several other major for-profit college operators that have failed in recent years.
DeVos has faced mounting criticism over her handling of federal loan forgiveness programs, which were expanded by the Obama administration following the collapse of the Corinthian Colleges, which was accused of lying to students to get them to enroll.
Under DeVos, the Education Department has stopped processing claims from students who say they were defrauded by their schools, leaving tens of thousands of borrowers in limbo as they seek loan cancellations. DeVos has also moved to tighten eligibility rules, prompting backlash from Democrats and a flurry of lawsuits from students and advocacy groups.