The Biden administration has canceled student loans for over 260,000 former Ashford University students amid ongoing debt relief efforts.
San Diego: Big news for former Ashford University students! The Biden administration is wiping out student loans for over 260,000 folks who attended the now-closed school. This move is part of a broader effort to provide debt relief.
Ashford used to be one of the largest for-profit colleges in the U.S., with a student body of more than 100,000. It was owned by Zovio until the University of Arizona took it over in 2020.
The Education Department started this loan forgiveness after a court in California found that Ashford misled students about things like accreditation and costs. So, they decided it was time to help those affected.
Initially, in 2023, they forgave loans for about 2,300 students who applied for relief. Now, they’re expanding that to include everyone who attended during the time of the alleged misconduct, even if they didn’t ask for help.
This new action will clear loan balances for anyone who was at Ashford from March 2009 to April 2020. It’s a big deal for many who have been struggling with their loans.
In a surprising twist, the Education Department is also trying to prevent Zovio’s founder from holding any executive positions at schools that get federal aid. They’re proposing to ban Andrew Clark for at least three years due to his involvement in the college’s misleading practices.
There’s a lot of back and forth about this. The Biden administration had hoped to get some money back from the University of Arizona since they took over Ashford, but that plan seems to have hit a wall.
Republicans in Congress are not happy about the loan cancellations. They argue it’s unfair to taxpayers who didn’t attend college. Rep. Virginia Foxx has been vocal about her concerns, saying the Biden administration is overstepping its bounds.
She’s particularly critical of the way they’re handling loan forgiveness, especially for large groups of borrowers who didn’t apply for relief. With the upcoming change in administration, she believes things will shift back to favoring the for-profit college sector.
Meanwhile, Biden recently announced another round of forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, helping over 5 million borrowers in total. However, he still hasn’t fulfilled his promise for widespread student loan forgiveness, as the Supreme Court blocked his plan to erase up to $20,000 for many Americans.
