For Immediate Release

Contact:

Carrie Wofford | President (202) 838-5050

June 16, 2021

Veterans Education Success Applauds Department of Education’s $500 Million in Loan Relief to 18,000 Borrowers Scammed by ITT Technical Institute

The Department of Education sends a strong message to for-profit schools involved in misconduct and illegal practices, like those exposed by Veterans Education Success at ITT Technical Institute

Washington, DC – Today, the Department of Education (ED) announced it would discharge one hundred percent of loans for 18,000 borrowers that were lied to by ITT Technical Institute. Veterans Education Success has long advocated for the Department to provide relief to the thousands of military-connected students who were victims of significant fraud by the for-profit college.

“So many veterans came to us about how ITT Tech cheated them and stole their GI Bill,” said Carrie Wofford, President of Veterans Education Success. “Their courage — and that of several key whistleblowers — enabled us to provide the Education Department the evidence it needed to deliver long-awaited justice to these brave students. We applaud the swift action by the administration and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.”

Today’s decision by the Department was the result of a years-long effort to expose the rampant abuse of students and taxpayers by ITT Technical Institute. The Department found that ITT Technical Institute misled students about the value of the for-profit college’s education and a student’s ability to get a quality job after graduation. According to the Department, “borrowers repeatedly stated that including ITT attendance on resumes made it harder for them to find employment, and their job prospects were not improved by attending ITT.” The Department also found that ITT Technical Institute misled students about the ability to transfer credits to other institutions.

Last April, Veterans Education Success highlighted these abusive and illegal practices in a memo submitted to the Department. Veterans Education Success also provided a similar analysis in 2016, as well as key whistleblowers. The evidence collected by Veterans Education Success was just the latest in a long list of abuses that were highlighted by the Department in their announcement. While for-profit college’s downfall was a long time coming, this action finally provides the many borrowers impacted with the relief they deserve.

We are honored to have worked alongside the Department, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Iowa Office of the Attorney General to expose the abusive and illegal practices by ITT Technical Institute.

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