Press Releases
06/02/2022
Attorney General Tong Praises U.S. Department of Education Decision Discharging $14.5 Million in Debt for Connecticut Students Who Attended Corinthian Colleges
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today praised a decision by the U.S. Department of Education to discharge all remaining federal student loan debt incurred to attend Corinthian Colleges—$5.8 billion for 560,000 people. The action will provide at least $14.5 million in relief for 1,210 Connecticut student borrowers.Eligible student borrowers will automatically have their loans discharged without any action required. The U.S. Department of Education move is the single largest loan discharge in history.
“Corinthian defrauded its students, leaving them saddled with unaffordable debt and worthless credits. Today, Corinthian’s victims—1,210 Connecticut borrowers and hundreds of thousands nationwide—will finally have these loans wiped clean. Attorneys general have been fighting for this relief for years, and I applaud the Biden Administration for righting this wrong. I fully support Secretary Cardona as he works to finalize stringent and necessary protections and oversight to ensure this predatory conduct can never be repeated,” said Attorney General Tong.
The move comes after investigations by state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Education found widespread and pervasive misrepresentations by Corinthian, including deceptive job placement rates and the putative ability to transfer credits to other colleges. In 2018, then-Attorney General George Jepsen joined a multistate coalition of attorneys general urging then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to discharge the Corinthian loans. In 2020, Attorney General Tong and a multistate coalition of attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Education for unlawfully repealing protections for student-borrowers established to prevent the types of predatory conduct Corinthian engaged in. That lawsuit is currently stayed while the Biden Administration finalizes new rules re-establishing those critical student-borrower protections.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
- Facebook: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov