Debt Relief Expanded For Former Corinthian College Students

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Debt relief options are being expanded for thousands of former students of Corinthian Colleges after an analysis of job placement rates at its associated technical colleges were found to be widely misrepresented.

The Department of Education analyzed job placement rates at Everest and Wyotech Colleges, as well as additional evidence provided by Attorney General Kamala Harris, and concluded that placement rates were widely misrepresented to both enrolled and prospective students.

"Corinthian preyed on vulnerable students who are now buried under mountains of student debt," Harris said in a statement.

As a result, thousands of former Everest and Wyotech students, as well as students who attended Everest University online, will be eligible for enhanced and streamlined debt relief opportunities.

In April, Corinthian Colleges shut down all of its campuses, displacing about 16,000 students after the U.S. Department of Education announced it was fining the for-profit institution $30 million for misrepresentation. Corinthian Schools then filed for bankruptcy a week later.

The factual findings of the analysis will help establish a case for "defense to repayment" loan relief – the process by which students may be relieved of loan obligations if their schools violated state law – on a program-wide basis to former Corinthian students who enrolled in programs for which Corinthian published false placement rates, according to the Attorney General's office.

Former Corinthian students can learn more about debt relief from the Attorney General's office or at studentaid.gov.