U.S. Education Secretary John King announced findings of fraud against 91 separate campuses of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges at a press conference in Boston today.
"Corinthian was more worried about profits than about students' lives," said King.
The announcement is intended to smooth the way for more former Corinthian students to apply for relief of their student loans. Corinthian had over 70,000 students when it ceased operations in 2014, and some 350,000 since 2010. So far, just 8,800 have had their loans discharged. That's according to a new report by the Department of Education's Special Master in charge of reviewing borrower defense claims.
Despite the findings of fraud, and numerous legal actions taken by state attorneys general, the Department of Education continues to collect student loans taken out by Corinthian students. Current regulations require that former students of these colleges fill out forms and apply individually for relief of their loans. Student advocates would like to see the process streamlined considerably.
"Everyone is still in debt, and the DOE and its servicers are still collecting," said Laura Hanna of Debt Collective, which has organized Corinthian students in a "debt strike".