RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Miyares announced that over 7,000 Virginians will receive federal student loan forgiveness due to misleading advertising.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, along with 23 other states and the District of Columbia, filed a borrower defense application with the U.S. Department of Education. This seeks loan forgiveness for affected students based on allegations that ITT Technical Institute falsely advertised the value of its degrees. According to officials, they did this to encourage students to enroll in their programs.
The Department granted the federal student loan discharges based upon the evidence submitted and the Office of the Attorney General’s analysis of the effect of ITT's misconduct under Virginia law.
About 7,190 Virginians will receive approximately $141.6 million in federal student loan discharges. Nationwide, more than 208,000 former ITT students who attended the institute from January 2005 to September 2016 will receive roughly $3.9 billion in loan forgiveness.
According to AG Miyares, affected borrowers do not have to take any action to receive this relief.
“Attending higher education is a big decision and a sacrifice for many Virginians. No institution should lie to prospective students or mislead them about jobs and future opportunities. I’m proud of my Office’s work to protect Virginia consumers and to seek forgiveness of the remaining student debt for those Virginians taken advantage of,” said Attorney General Miyares.
