Corinthian Colleges Calling It Quits

[caliotter3]

The Associated Press announced that Corinthian Colleges will shut down all of its 28 remaining campuses in the wake of the $30 million fine levied by the US Dept. of Education less than two weeks ago.

Corinthian Colleges to Shut Down All 28 Remaining Campuses

(Sorry, the link did not post directly to referenced story, link under US headlines)

Link corrected. Karen

[E Non Imus, RN]

If I were three-quarters through a degree program, at any school, and the school was destroyed by some kind of natural disaster, does that mean my student loans for the education I've already completed should be forgiven? Obviously, I'm not going to be charged, or pay, any additional tuition, but why would I not continue to be obligated for the courses I've already taken?

That would be the case if the credit transferred to other schools. In most of the cases for these students, they have a partial education that is good for exactly nothing. Can you take the NCLEX with 3/4ths of a nursing degree? A better analogy would be if I went to a fancy ice cream parlor (I'm thinking Beaches and Creams at the Yacht and Beach Club at Disney World) and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and the waitress brought me a bag of rock salt and a bucket of cream. Yes, if I buy my own sugar and flavoring from another place and then mix it all together myself, she realistically would've sold me ice cream. But if I can't get the other ingredients, then she sold me nothing.

[elkpark]

That would be the case if the credit transferred to other schools. In most of the cases for these students, they have a partial education that is good for exactly nothing. Can you take the NCLEX with 3/4ths of a nursing degree? A better analogy would be if I went to a fancy ice cream parlor (I'm thinking Beaches and Creams at the Yacht and Beach Club at Disney World) and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and the waitress brought me a bag of rock salt and a bucket of cream. Yes, if I buy my own sugar and flavoring from another place and then mix it all together myself, she realistically would've sold me ice cream. But if I can't get the other ingredients, then she sold me nothing.

The "schools" provided the "education" they promised the students (up until the point at which they were shut down). I do not see how whether or not the credits will transfer has any bearing on the question. The students got what they paid for. It's no secret that the credits don't transfer to other schools.

You could make the same argument that a student who actually completed a program, got licensed, but was unable to find a job should have her/his student loans forgiven.

I'm sorry that students made poor choices about what schools to attend, but I don't see why the taxpayers should have to foot the bill for that.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Looks like many Corinthian College students are still on the hook for their student debt, even though they shouldn't be.

Nearly 80,000 students of defunct for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges are facing some form of debt collection, even though the U.S. Department of Education unearthed enough evidence of fraud to forgive their student loans, according to an investigation by the staff of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Before it shut down last year, Corinthian, which ran Everest Institute, Wyotech and Heald College, became an example of the worst practices in the for-profit education sector, including high loan defaults and dubious programs. Amid allegations of deceptive marketing and lying to the government about its graduation rates, Corinthian lost its access to federal funds in 2014, forcing the company to sell or close its schools.

On Thursday, Warren sent a letter urging Education Secretary John B. King Jr. to provide the immediate debt relief that Corinthian students are entitled to under federal law. The department has broad authority to cancel federal student loans when colleges violate students' rights and state law, exactly what education officials accused Corinthian of doing. Yet the agency continues to collect on debt owed by tens of thousands of people eligible for forgiveness.

It is unconscionable that instead of helping these borrowers, vast numbers of Corinthian victims are currently being hounded by the department's debt collectors — many having their credit slammed, their tax refunds seized, their Social Security and Earned Income Tax Credit payments reduced, or wages garnished — all to pay fraudulent debts,” Warren wrote to King.