President Biden announces debt cancellation for 261,000 borrowers from Ashford University

This move comes as Biden wraps up his time in office. The Education Department revealed that this debt relief is a result of a California investigation into Ashford. They found that the school was not upfront about costs and the qualifications needed for jobs.
Back in 2022, Ashford was slapped with a $20 million penalty, and a court found them guilty of fraud. They even tried to appeal, but the court upheld the findings. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said this announcement is a win for students who were misled.
The Education Department will be reaching out to those affected soon, so borrowers don’t need to do anything. This relief also covers those who didn’t file individual claims. Earlier this year, they approved $72 million in relief for 2,300 borrowers from Ashford.
This could be one of Biden’s last acts of student loan forgiveness before he leaves office. Just last month, he announced $4.2 billion in debt cancellation for 152,000 borrowers, bringing the total relief to over $180 billion for 5.3 million people. With Trump coming in, the future of student loan forgiveness is looking pretty uncertain.