The US will forgive $5.8 billion in outstanding debt for students of defunct Corinthian Colleges Inc. who the government says were deceived and defrauded — a major loan cancellation that comes as President Joe Biden considers a more widespread proposal.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who sued Corinthian as California’s attorney general, will make the announcement Thursday, fully discharging the loans held of a total of 560,000 borrowers.
Corinthian followed a pattern of cheating its students by falsely stating its programs, officials told reporters on a briefing call Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Some students with outstanding debt will receive refunds of payments already made, the officials said. It applies to every borrower with a loan balance who attended Corinthian from its founding in 1995 to its 2015 closing.
It’s the largest single loan discharge in the Education Department’s history. Biden continues to weigh whether to try to enact widespread loan cancellation, but has deferred payments on federal student loan debt since taking office.