Just weeks after the Education Department erased half a billion dollars in student debt for borrowers defrauded by their schools, the agency said on Friday that it would discharge another $55.6 million for students at three other institutions, the New York Times reported. Roughly 1,800 students — at Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty and the Court Reporting Institute — will have all of their debts discharged as part of the so-called borrower defense program, which allows loan holders to file claims to have their debt forgiven if they believe they have been scammed. The Biden administration has now canceled more than $1.5 billion in loans for more than 92,000 borrowers under the program, a significant shift from the previous administration, during which relief efforts largely came to a standstill. And the latest approvals widened the scope of relief beyond a small group of schools. Friday’s approvals were the first since 2017 that wiped out debts at schools other than Corinthian Colleges, ITT Technical Institute and American Career Institute. Those three for-profit institutions are now defunct. “The department will continue doing its part to review and approve borrower defense claims quickly and fairly so that borrowers receive the relief that they need and deserve,” said Miguel A. Cardona, the education secretary. “We also hope these approvals serve as a warning to any institution engaging in similar conduct that this type of misrepresentation is unacceptable.” Former Westwood students accounted for the bulk of the relief delivered on Friday.
