Senator Murray: “After a years-long fight beside the students who were cheated by these schools, I’m glad we were finally able to get them the loan-relief they are owed. I’m going to keep fighting to crack down on predatory for-profit institutions like CRI and ensure Washington state students who have been taken advantage of by fraudulent educational institutions get the justice—and compensation—they deserve.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Education Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education announced today the approval of over 1,800 borrower defense to repayment (borrower defense) claims for borrowers who attended three institutions including the Court Reporting Institute which had campuses in Seattle and Tacoma.
“This is a victory for the students throughout our state who were simply trying to earn a college degree and secure a good job, but were defrauded by predatory schools that promised to provide them honest training and skills,” said Senator Murray. “After a years-long fight beside the students who were cheated by these schools, I’m glad we were finally able to get them the loan-relief they are owed. I’m going to keep fighting to crack down on predatory for-profit institutions like CRI and ensure Washington state students who have been taken advantage of by fraudulent educational institutions get the justice—and compensation—they deserve.”
Senator Murray has been pivotal in securing debt relief for the defrauded Washington state students, urging the U.S. Department of Education in 2016 to provide full and immediate student loan debt relief to Washington State students formerly enrolled at the Court Reporting Institute, Inc., and working closely with Attorney General Ferguson to press the Department of Education to exercise its full legal authority in this space. Additionally, Senator Murray has advocated to address the student loan crisis, urging the Department to extend the payment pause on student loans during the pandemic and to expand relief programs.
This is the first time the Department has announced approved borrower defense claims for students who attended institutions besides Corinthian Colleges, ITT Technical Institute, and American Career Institute since 2017.
These borrowers will receive 100 percent loan discharges, resulting in approximately $55.6 million in relief. This brings total loan cancellation based on borrower defense by the Biden Administration to over $1.5 billion for nearly 92,000 borrowers.
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