TICAS Statement on Education Department Discharging ITT Student Loans and Pursuing Lost Funds from DeVry’s Misrepresentation

“We celebrate today’s action by the Biden-Harris Administration to relieve more than 200,000 additional ITT borrowers of $3.9 billion in student loans as a result of ITT’s longstanding deceptive and fraudulent practices. This action represents another milestone in the years-long effort to achieve justice for student borrowers whose institutions defrauded them and taxpayers. By automating the remaining discharges of ITT borrowers, the Education Department will ensure all of ITT’s victims will, at last, realize greater financial security after years of uncertainty and waiting.

“In addition to today’s ITT action, we applaud the Education Department for notifying DeVry University that the Department is formally seeking to recoup the cost of approved borrower defense claims for some of the eligible students who attended DeVry between 2008 – 2015. We recently joined partner organizations in calling on the Department to strengthen borrower defense rules through its rulemaking process and use recoupment authority to hold leaders of fraudulent institutions accountable for the cost of successful borrower defense claims. Perpetrators of deceptive practices and misrepresentations should cover the costs of lost financial aid dollars—not taxpayers.

“We are grateful for today’s actions by the Administration. We remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating for a strong borrower defense rule that discourages future abuses and that works in the interest of student borrowers, rather than the institutions that defraud them.”

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