Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced on Tuesday the U.S. Department of Education has approved the discharge of all remaining federal student loan debt owed by borrowers who attended the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute (ITT), forgiving approximately $100 million in debt owed by more than 5,000 Illinois borrowers.
The Department of Education will erase all remaining federal student loan debt that borrowers received to attend ITT from Jan. 1, 2005 through its closure in September 2016. The decision, which follows department findings based on extensive internal records, testimony from ITT managers and recruiters and first-hand accounts from borrowers, will result in 208,000 borrowers receiving $3.9 billion in full loan discharges. Former ITT students who have not yet applied for a borrower defense to repayment discharge will also receive relief without any additional action on their part.
Today’s announcement follows an April 2021 borrower defense application submitted by Raoul and a coalition of attorneys general urging the department to forgive the loans of former ITT students after the school defrauded students by encouraging them to enroll and take out loans based on false and misleading information about the value of an ITT degree and empty promises of high-paying jobs after graduation.
ITT enrolled roughly 282,000 students across the country between 2007 and 2010. Student borrowers who have questions or are in need of assistance can call the Attorney General’s Student Loan Helpline at 1-800-455-2456. Borrowers can also file complaints on the Attorney General’s website.