Students and former students of Corinthian Colleges, one of the largest for-profit higher-education chains in North America, will be getting $480 million worth of debt relief after the troubled schools were bought out by another company, the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education announced the refunds on Tuesday, saying that students were harmed by the chain’s high-priced student loan program — so-called Genesis loans. Corinthian had more than 100 campuses in the United States and Canada under the names Everest, Heald and WyoTech. It also offered degrees online. The bureau sued Corinthian Colleges last year, accusing it of luring tens of thousands of students into taking out loans with false promises of job prospects and career services. The bureau alleged that the schools also used illegal collection tactics to pressure students to pay back the loans — even while they were still in school.
