Attorney General George Jepsen announced today that Connecticut has joined at least 42 other states and the District of Columbia in notifying residents who attended schools operated by Corinthian Colleges, Inc. that they may be eligible for cancellation of their federal student loans used to attend those schools. If a student’s federal loan is cancelled, the student will make no more payments on the loan, and any payments already made will be refunded.

Approximately 427 Connecticut residents may be eligible for federal student loan cancellation and will receive a letter explaining the relief available, along with a short application that must be filed with the U.S. Department of Education.

After intense scrutiny by various government entities, for-profit Corinthian Colleges abruptly ceased operations in 2015, transferring some of its campuses to a non-profit called Zenith Education Group.  The U.S. Department of Education found that Corinthian Colleges made widespread misrepresentations between 2010 and 2014 about post-graduation employment rates. Lists of the affected campuses, programs, and dates of enrollment are available here and here.
 

"Corinthian Colleges deceived thousands of students by misrepresenting their post-graduation employment rates," said Attorney General Jepsen. "Students were tricked into believing that they were making an investment in their future, and now they deserve for their federal loans to be cancelled. My office is dedicated to protecting student borrowers and their families from falling victim to fraud and will continue to work with other state and federal officials to stop this type of misconduct."

The Attorney General’s letter was sent to students who were victims of conduct identified by the U.S. Department of Education as fraudulent and thus eligible for a special "streamlined" process to discharge their federal student loans.  However, any student who attended Corinthian Colleges and believes that the school lied about job prospects, the transferability of credits, or other issues may also apply to have their federal student loans canceled using the U.S. Department of Education’s universal discharge application at borrowerdischarge.ed.gov.  More information is available at studentaid.ed.gov/borrower-defense.
 

All borrowers should beware of student loan scams. Applications and information for loan forgiveness are available for FREE through the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education never charges application or maintenance fees.

It may take time for the U.S. Department of Education to process applications. Anyone who applies for loan discharge should continue making payments on the affected loans until informed by the U.S. Department of Education or their loan servicer that their federal loans are in forbearance while their application is pending or that their loans have been cancelled.

More information about discharge of federal student loans can be obtained by calling the U.S. Department of Education hotline at 1-855-279-6207 or by e-mailing questions to FSAOperations@ed.gov.

Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Chambers and Matthew Budzik, head of the Finance Department, assisted the Attorney General with this matter.

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