About the Predatory For-Profit College Industry
For decades, the predatory for-profit college industry has exploited the promise of higher education. The industry specifically targets low-income students, people of color, immigrants, veterans, and others trying to build a better life for themselves, their families and their communities. Many are the first in their family to attend college. This industry draws nearly all its revenue from taxpayer dollars and relies on deceptive and relentless sales tactics to recruit students, leaving them worse off than they started. The Project’s landmark cases on behalf of student borrowers work to end these predatory practices and hold those who enable them accountable.
Featured Cases
Sweet v. DeVos
Challenges the Department of Education’s refusal to process borrower defense claims.
Villalba et al. v. ITT
Class action by former ITT Tech students in ITT’s bankruptcy proceedings. Students are the true creditors of ITT and debts from ITT are invalid.
Calvillo Manriquez v. DeVos
Class action challenging the federal government’s failure to discharge tens of thousands of student loans from Corinthian College discharge applicants whom the government already deemed entitled to discharges.
“Everything that the school promised, turned out to be false... Sanford-Brown Institute has left me and many other students with mountains of debt and no career path to dig ourselves out. Making this worse is that our own government has failed to step in to protect and help students.”
“[The Department of Education] should be protecting the students, because students were led to believe they were protected. And they are not, they are protecting...for-profit schools."
“I hope these rulings remind the Department of its obligation to its citizens who are the future of this country, and that it will start to act in the interest of students instead of for-profit institutions.”
-Meaghan, former student at New England Institute of Art
News
Betsy DeVos Is Getting Sued Over Student Debt | Teen Vogue
When Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) questioned then nominee for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos during a confirmation hearing in 2017, DeVos — often cited as the richest member of Donald Trump’s cabinet — seemed to have no personal experience with the federal student-loan application process. “Have you ever taken out a student loan from the federal government to help pay for college?” Warren asked DeVos, to which the billionaire replied, “I have not.”
All the Ways Student Debt Exacerbates Racial Inequality — ‘It’s Like Landing in Quick Sand’ | MarketWatch
Student debt is often thought of as a generational issue, plaguing 20- and 30-somethings as they make their way into adulthood. And while it’s true that young adults are coping with levels of student debt rarely experienced by their parents and even older siblings, perhaps one of the biggest factors defining a borrower’s student loan experience is their race.
Seeking Answers on Loan Relief Claims | Inside Higher Ed
Lawyers for student borrowers have filed myriad lawsuits against Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education. They’ve successfully argued that the Education Department should be required to carry out a 2016 borrower defense rule. And they managed to block a plan to offer partial loan cancellation to former Corinthian College students who previously were approved for debt relief. Now those lawyers are aiming to force the department’s hand on a massive backlog of claims from borrowers who say they were misled by their colleges.
Get Help
If you attended a for-profit college and need legal help with student debt problems, contact us by leaving a message on our hotline, 617-390-2669, or filling out our online intake form.
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