by Misty Severi
The Department of Education (DOE) on Wednesday announced the forgiveness of another $4.5 billion in student loans for over 200,000 borrowers at Ashford University, in one of the department’s final moves of the Biden administration.
President Joe Biden and his administration have attempted to clear out a massive amount of student loan debt for Americans who are still paying off their loans after 20 years, though some efforts have been curbed by the courts. However, they have successfully forgiven loans for over 5 million borrowers over the past four years.
The department said in a press release that the latest round of cancellations goes to over 261,000 students, who were enrolled in the largely online school of Ashford University from March 2009 to April 2020.
The department determined that the school made “widespread misrepresentations” about its programs, including how long it would take to complete a degree, costs of financial aid, and the ability to obtain necessary licenses.
“Numerous federal and state investigations have documented the deceptive recruiting tactics frequently used by Ashford University,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement. “In reality, 90 percent of Ashford students never graduated, and the few who did were often left with large debts and low incomes.”
Former Ashford students who qualify for the relief will be sent emails in the coming days, and no further action from the students will be necessary.
The latest student loan forgiveness comes just days after Biden forgave the balances of 150,000 other borrowers, which included federal workers, those defrauded by universities and people who had permanent disabilities.
The increase brings the total forgiveness to $34 billion for borrowers whose schools took advantage of them, have since closed, or are part of court settlements, according to the DOE.
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Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News.
