WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris’ decade-long “journey for justice” on behalf of Corinthian Colleges students will soon come to a close as the Biden administration promises to relieve borrowers of their remaining federal student loans.
Harris investigated and sued the for-profit university conglomerate when she was California’s attorney general. Her 2013 lawsuit forced Corinthian to close its schools and kick-started probes that led the United States Department of Education to cancel about $5.8 billion in loan debt for 560,000 borrowers.
Harris, California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017, investigated Corinthian over their recruitment methods. She sued the company and its subsidiaries — such as Heald College, Everest College and WyoTech — for “predatory” advertising practices that lured vulnerable students with inaccurate information around job placement rates, programs and transfer credits.
“Our investigation revealed that some of the degrees from Corinthian were so worthless that they didn’t help a single student get a job,” Harris said in an appearance at the Department of Education on Thursday, where she recounted the legal battle.
While reviewing Corinthian’s internal documents as California’s attorney general, her office found that Corinthian targeted “veterans, single mothers and single fathers, people living below the poverty line, people who lost jobs during the Great Recession, people who believed in the power of education to transform their lives, people who simply wanted to take control of their own future,” she said.
“They targeted people who they assumed wouldn’t fight back. They targeted people who they assumed no one would be there to fight for. And they were wrong,”
A California judge agreed with Harris in 2016, ruling that the company inflated its job placement record and falsely advertised students’ ability to transfer credits, among other things. The judge ruled that the then-defunct company pay more than $1 billion in restitution and penalties.
By then, Harris’ investigation and lawsuit had prevented Corinthian from receiving federal funding and enrolling students. Corinthian had shuttered its remaining campuses in April 2015 and filed for bankruptcy the next month.
“Even though it was a victory, and all of that happened, it still didn’t provide financial relief to the students who had already been impacted,” Harris said.
Harris and eight other attorneys general petitioned the federal government to cancel Corinthian students’ loan debt, which led the U.S. Education Department to provide relief to some students who applied for it starting in 2015.
Today, seven years later, Harris said, “together with the leaders on this stage, that the Department of Education will cancel all remaining federal student loans for former Corinthian students.”
The U.S. Department of Education will notify eligible borrowers shortly. Former students need not take any action, she said.
Harris took a moment to remind listeners of the strain that Corinthian students have been under since its company was founded in 1995.
“We’re talking about people who are highly responsible, who decided they would save up some money to pay for an education to improve their life and the life of their family and contribute to their community,” she said.
“Think about what kind of person does that,” Harris implored. “And then think about that person receiving what is probably a monthly bill that says, ‘you owe money,’ and how that makes that person feel. And the pressure they are then under because they are a responsible person who does care about contributing.”
In closing, Harris thanked those who continued fighting for relief for Corinthian students.
“Because of your hard working and dedication, we’re where we are today. Also knowing that as a nation, we still have a lot more work to do on these issues,” she said.
