Biden cancels ANOTHER $3.9B in student debt for defunct ITT colleges – pushing the total to $32B
The White House announced Tuesday an additional $3.9 billion in student loan forgiveness, this time for borrowers who attended defunct ITT Technical Institute.
The latest round brings Joe Biden‘s student loan forgiveness total to $32 billion since taking office – but progressive are still pushing for the president to cancel all existing federal student loans.
Borrowers are also still waiting to hear if federal loan pause will be extended for a fifth time as the latest deadline approaches.
At the start of September, students with outstanding federal loans will, for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, start having to repay. That is, unless Biden extends the pause.
There are only 15 days until the end of August, which is the latest student loan forbearance deadline.
While 208,000 ITT Tech borrowers saw their loans forgiven, the Education Department (DOE) claims it is looking to improve several other student loan forgiveness programs.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said: ‘It is time for student borrowers to stop shouldering the burden from ITT’s years of lies and false promises.’
‘The evidence shows that for years, ITT’s leaders intentionally misled students about the quality of their programs in order to profit off federal student loan programs, with no regard for the hardship this would cause,’ he added.
Joe Biden’s Department of Education announced Tuesday another round of ‘targeted’ student loan forgiveness, this time $3.9 billion for borrowers who attended the now defunct ITT Technical Institute. Pictured: The president boards Air Force One in South Carolina on Tuesday to return to the White House from a family vacation
In addition to ‘targeted loan forgiveness’ efforts the DoE ‘is also working on new regulations that will permanently improve a variety of the existing student loan forgiveness programs, significantly reduce monthly payments, and provide greater protections for students and taxpayers against unaffordable debts,’ according to a Department press release.
To date, 1.6 million borrowers have seen relief approved by the Biden administration under the targeted forgiveness model.
The $32 billion total in Biden’s higher education loan relief includes $13 billion for 1 million borrowers from institutions the Department claims took advantage of the students, including in relation to deceptive practices and school closures.
Another $9.6 billion was forgiven under Biden’s administration for 175,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and $9 billion for disability discharges for more than 425,000 individual borrowers.
The nearly $4 billion in relief announced on Tuesday discharges all remaining federal student loans for borrowers who attended ITT Tech from January 1, 2005 through its closure in September 2016.
Progressives, like Senator Bernie Sanders (pictured during a rally for forgiveness on April 27), are pushing for complete cancelation of outstanding federal student loans. They say that Biden’s efforts for targeted forgiveness and weighing $10,000 in forgiveness for borrowers doesn’t go far enough
The decision for additional forgiveness came after a DoE conducted a review of internal records and testimony from ITT managers and recruiters. They also spoke with borrowers to hear first-hand accounts.
‘Today’s actions are part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to ensure better implementation of the student loan programs to get students and borrowers the benefits to which they are entitled, including loan forgiveness,’ the Tuesday DoE release notes.
It continues: ‘These efforts also include enacting lasting policies to make college more affordable and prevent a future debt crisis by holding schools accountable for leaving students with mountains of debt and without the skills and preparation to find good jobs.’
Cardona ensured that the ‘Biden-Harris Administration will continue to stand up for borrowers who’ve been cheated by their colleges, while working to strengthen oversight and enforcement to protect today’s students from similar deception and abuse.’
The loans canceled Tuesday brings the Biden administration to $32 billion in total targeted forgiveness. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (pictured) said: ‘It is time for student borrowers to stop shouldering the burden from ITT’s years of lies and false promises’
Progressive lawmakers and activists, however, claim that these steps don’t go far enough toward ending the student loan crisis in the U.S.
These groups want to see all federal student loans wiped clean.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has suggested they are considering forgiving $10,000 in federal student loans for each borrower.
Along with the Tuesday announcement regarding ITT Tech loans, the Department also announced it has initiated the formal process of recouping borrower defense claims from DeVry University.
The Department notified DeVry that it is required to pay millions towards defense applications, which the university can submit arguments in response for why it should not have to pay the liabilities.
The third and final announcement from DoE on Tuesday notes that it approved just under 100 borrowers who enrolled in the Medical Assistant or Medical Billing & Coding Program at Kaplan Career Institute’s Kenmore Square location in Massachusetts from July 1, 2011 to February 16, 2012.
An investigation into the institution found that it repeatedly lied to borrowers regarding its job placement rates, along with other deceptive practices.
The institution stopped enrolling new students in February 2012 and closed in February 2013.
