Education

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, along Attorneys General from 16 states and the District of Columbia today submitted official comments to the United States Department of Education, urging the Department to do more to create and implement fair, streamlined, and efficient processes to enable students harmed by predatory for-profit colleges to access student loan debt relief.  The Attorneys General also praised the significant strides already made by the Department of Education through its recently proposed borrower-defense regulations. 

“We must create rules that will prevent predatory for-profit schools from continuing to cheat and mislead our students and taxpayers,” said Attorney General Harris.  “Education goes hand-in-hand with the American Dream. With new and improved federal protections for students, both current and future students defrauded by for-profit companies will finally have a meaningful opportunity for federal student loan forgiveness and the chance to pursue a higher education.” 

Department regulations in place since 1995 allow borrowers to apply for discharge of federal student loans if their college violated state law in its conduct toward them, a right referred to as “defense to repayment.”  Until recent years, this right had been invoked only a handful of times. When Attorney General Harris and other law enforcement agencies exposed Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (“Corinthian”) for extensively falsifying its job-placement rates to potential and enrolled students, tens of thousands of students became eligible for full debt relief under this process.  Other for-profit institutions may have used similarly dishonest tactics in their dealings with students, so many more borrowers may need to utilize this defense in the future.

Existing regulations have proven inadequate for handling situations of extensive fraud like in the case of Corinthian.  The Department’s existing rules provide little guidance on who may be eligible, how they should apply, or how the Department will evaluate applications. 

On June 16, 2016, the Department published its new, proposed defense-to-repayment rules after a negotiated rulemaking session earlier in the year failed.  Attorney General Harris’ office, as the negotiator on behalf of attorneys general, advocated for a number of measures in the earlier sessions that have now been included in the Department’s proposed rules, including: (1) the creation of a group-discharge process that would allow the Department to grant automatic relief to wide swaths of students similarly wronged by a predatory school, like Corinthian; (2) limitations on schools’ use of binding pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class-action waivers, common devices that predatory schools employ to undermine the legal rights of students and prevent wrongdoing from coming to light; and (3) an expansion of the time frame during which defrauded students may seek full relief from the Department.  These hard-fought gains mark major steps forward in remedying the egregious mistreatment of students and holding predatory schools accountable to taxpayers, but more remains to be accomplished.

By submitting today’s comments, Attorney General Harris and the Attorneys General of Massachusetts, Illinois, Maryland, Kentucky, Connecticut,  Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, District of Columbia, and the State of Hawaii, Office of Consumer Protection now call on the Department to do more to protect students and taxpayers:

1. Under the Department’s proposed rules, there is no formal process for a state attorney general to invoke the defense-to-repayment process when he or she has evidence a group of students was abused by a school.  As chief law enforcement officers of their respective states, state attorneys general are uniquely positioned to investigate school misconduct and bring it to the Department’s attention.  The final rules should recognize this expertise by allowing state attorney general referrals. 
2. Under the current proposal, after establishing that his or her school violated the law, the student must then separately show that he or she is entitled to more than partial loan forgiveness.  This places an unfair and unnecessary burden on students.  The final rules should provide that once a student has demonstrated the kind of egregious conduct required to obtain debt relief in the first place, there should be a presumption that the student is entitled full relief—not the other way around.
3. The final rules should expand the categories of school misconduct that would give rise to a defense to repayment.  Absent a litigated judgment, the current proposal limits students’ ability to seek relief from the Department to situations in which the school has either breached a contract or engaged in “substantial misrepresentations.”  This ignores other categories of rampant school misconduct that violate state law and render a student’s education worthless.  This is an unwelcome retreat from the Department’s 1995 regulations, which recognize violations of state law as a basis for defense to repayment.
4. The Department’s proposed rules make significant strides toward eradicating mandatory pre-dispute arbitration provisions and class-action waivers in enrollment agreements.  But to give those measures the best chance of succeeding, the Department’s final rules should further clarify that schools cannot request at enrollment that students “opt out” of the bans on mandatory pre-dispute arbitration provisions and class-action waivers, and that the claims covered by these bans are broad.

The Department will publish final regulations by November 1, 2016.

In October 2013, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris led the charge against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. and its schools in California (Everest, Heald, and Wyotech colleges), seeking to put an end to abusive practices that left tens of thousands of students with useless degrees and tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Attorney General Harris remains committed to protecting vulnerable students.  A copy of the letter is attached to the electronic version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.

Agreement reached over alleged violations of California’s false claims, false advertising and unfair business practices laws

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the Bureau of Children’s Justice and False Claims Unit of the California Department of Justice has reached a settlement agreement with K12 Inc., a for-profit online charter school operator, and the 14 affiliated non-profit schools known as the California Virtual Academies (“CAVA Schools”) that it manages, over alleged violations of California’s false claims, false advertising and unfair competition laws. 

As part of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, K12 will provide approximately $160 million in debt relief to the non-profit schools it manages—“balanced budget credits” that were accrued by the schools as a result of the fee structure K12 used in its contracts—and will pay $8.5 million in settlement of all claims.  In addition, K12 has agreed to implement significant reforms of its contracts with the CAVA Schools, undergo independent reviews of its services for students with disabilities, ensure accuracy of all advertisements, provide teachers with sufficient information and training to prevent improper claiming of attendance dollars, and change policies and practices to prevent the kinds of conduct that led to this investigation and agreement.  

This is the first settlement by the new Bureau of Children’s Justice, a first-of-its-kind unit created by Attorney General Harris in February 2015 to enforce civil and criminal laws that protect children and to pursue solutions that help ensure all children are on track to realize their full potential.  The Bureau partnered with the False Claims Unit to investigate this matter, in which K12 and the CAVA Schools were cooperative.  The Attorney General’s office recently disclosed five additional active investigations by the Bureau of Children’s Justice addressing education, juvenile justice, and the child welfare system: www.oag.ca.gov/bcj/investigations.

“All children deserve, and are entitled under the law, to an equal education,” said Attorney General Harris. “K12 and its schools misled parents and the State of California by claiming taxpayer dollars for questionable student attendance, misstating student success and parent satisfaction, and loading nonprofit charities with debt.  As my office continues an industry-wide examination of for-profit academic institutions, this settlement ensures K12 and its schools are held accountable and make much-needed improvements.”

The Attorney General’s Office alleged that K12 and the CAVA Schools it operates in California misled parents to induce them to enroll their children in K12 schools by publishing misleading advertisements about students’ academic progress, parent satisfaction, their graduates’ eligibility for University of California and California State University admission, class sizes, the individualized and flexible nature of their instruction, hidden costs, and the quality of the materials provided to students.

In addition, the Attorney General’s office alleged that K12 and its affiliated schools submitted inflated student attendance numbers and collected more dollars in state funding from the California Department of Education than they were entitled to.  According to a whistle blower, K12 allegedly counted logging on for as little as one minute as a full day of attendance, wasting taxpayer dollars and harming students by depriving them of a full day of high-quality academic instruction.

Finally, the Attorney General’s office alleged that K12 and its employees influenced nonprofit online charter schools to enter into unfavorable contracts that put them deep in a financial hole.  The agreement ensures that K12 and the CAVA Schools refocus on the need to deliver quality educational services and that they do so with appropriate controls between the for-profit vendor and nonprofit schools.

A recent study showed that students in virtual schools that exist solely online are far behind their peers in math and reading.  In addition, reports show that the CAVA Schools collectively had a graduation rate of 36%, compared to the state average of 78%.

K12 Inc. is based in Virginia and is a for-profit, publicly traded company.  The 14 non-profit virtual charter schools it manages throughout California enroll approximately 13,000 K-12 students.

Ensuring that all students receive full days of academic instruction is part of Attorney General Harris’s innovative “smart on crime” approach to criminal justice, in which the Attorney General’s office has commissioned research into elementary school truancy and chronic absenteeism and the connections between school attendance and interactions with the criminal justice system later in life.  Reports from the past three years and additional materials are available online at https://oag.ca.gov/truancy.

LOS ANGELES- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris released the following statement on the Supreme Court's ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas, a high-profile affirmative action case regarding whether public universities can consider race in admissions decisions.

“Our nation's diversity is our strength, and our public colleges and university systems should strive to reflect that diversity. Evidence shows that fostering student bodies with wide arrays of backgrounds and experiences benefits all students and helps them prepare for a global workforce. There shouldn't be any doubt the Constitution permits public institutions of higher education to consider a range of factors, including race, when making admissions decisions and I'm glad the Supreme Court affirmed that right today." 

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today sent a letter to the United States Department of Education, urging the Department to revoke federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools’ (ACICS).  ACICS is a major accreditor of for-profit schools and was the accreditor for the now defunct Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (“Corinthian”).  While accredited by ACICS, Corinthian intentionally targeted low-income, vulnerable Californians through deceptive and false advertisements and aggressive marketing campaigns that misrepresented job placement rates and school programs.

“The predatory scheme devised by executives at Corinthian Colleges, Inc. was unconscionable. And despite enforcement actions by the California Department of Justice and the federal government against Corinthian, ACICS continued to accredit Corinthian, hurting thousands of students in the process,” said Attorney General Harris. “Students relied on Corinthian’s accreditation status, believing they were obtaining a high quality-education with real job prospects. The Department of Education should not renew ACICS’ federal recognition and protect students from harm by predatory, for-profit colleges.”

In issuing this letter, Attorney General Harris supports the 13 other state Attorneys General who voiced their concerns over the renewal of ACICS as an accreditation agency.  These Attorneys General noted their opposition in a letter that included a discussion of ACICS-related issues and concerns in their respective states, also noting the failure of ACICS to take appropriate action in response to public enforcement actions by states and federal agencies.

Today’s letter is Attorney General Harris’ latest effort to protect vulnerable students from fraud and predatory practices by dishonest institutions.  Yesterday, Attorney General Harris, 10 other Attorneys General, and the State of Hawaii, Office of Consumer Protection sent a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee opposing an amendment that would weaken existing protections and would instead allow any college approved for military tuition benefits to have unrestricted access to recruit on military bases.  In March 2016, Attorney General Harris obtained a $1.1 billion judgment against Corinthian as a result of their predatory and unlawful practices that left tens of thousands of students with large amounts of debt and useless degrees. 

In February 2016, Attorney General Harris and 7 other Attorneys General sent a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs urging greater protections for veterans affected by predatory school practices.  Also in February 2016, Attorney General released a statement and in March 2016 joined 8 other Attorneys General in a letter urging the Department of Education to adopt stronger regulations, including in “borrower defense to repayment,” to protect students misled by Corinthian and other predatory for-profit colleges.  In April 2015, Attorney General Harris and 8 other state Attorneys General sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging immediate debt relief for the students who attended Heald College and other Corinthian Colleges, Inc. campuses.

In October 2013, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris led the charge against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. and its schools in California (Everest, Heald, and Wyotech colleges), seeking to put an end to abusive practices that left tens of thousands of students with useless degrees and tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Attorney General Harris remains committed to protecting vulnerable students.  A copy of the letter is attached to the electronic version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and the Attorneys General of Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and the State of Hawaii, Office of Consumer Protection yesterday sent a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee expressing opposition to an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposed by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) that would allow any college approved for military tuition benefits to have unrestricted access to recruit on military bases. 

“Predatory schemes targeting veterans are unconscionable,” said Attorney General Harris.  “The proposed amendment would weaken current rules intended to protect our servicemembers, and harm veterans by making them vulnerable to fraud and exploitation.  We must protect our nation’s veterans and servicemembers from predators who would exploit them for their educational benefits.”

Under existing standards, educational institutions already have sufficient access to military installations, especially for counseling purposes.  This amendment would weaken the existing protections and leave veterans and servicemembers more susceptible to aggressive and deceptive recruiters on military properties.

Attorney General Harris and the other state attorneys general also point out that current protections are indeed insufficient and should be strengthened to ensure that servicemembers are able to perform their duties free from harassment by unscrupulous recruiters.

In issuing this letter, the attorneys general join a number of military and veterans service organizations as well as other advocacy organizations in voicing concerns over the amendment. These organizations have noted their opposition in the following letters: http://veteranseducationsuccess.org/s/Letter-to-Manchin-re-NDAA-43d5.pdf

http://veteranseducationsuccess.org/s/Letter-to-McCain-Reed-re-NDAA-Manchin-Provision-arm9.pdf

This letter is Attorney General Harris’ latest effort to protect veterans from targeted scams and predatory practices.  In March of this year, Attorney General Harris obtained a $1.1 billion default judgment against Corinthian Colleges, which targeted servicemembers and veterans and illegally used the seals of the military services in its marketing materials.  Attorney General Harris and seven states also sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs urging VA Secretary Robert McDonald to take steps to ensure that veterans are given accurate information about the risks associated with using their benefits at predatory schools like the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges, Inc.  

Last year, Attorney General Harris issued a consumer alert warning veterans and their survivors to be on alert following a rise in reported pension poaching scams, and last Friday, in honor of Memorial Day, issued consumer tips to help California servicemembers and veterans protect themselves from common scams. In November 2015, Attorney General Harris announced a stipulated judgment against JPMorgan Chase over allegations of credit card debt-collection abuses that violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the California Military Veterans Code and required the payment of restitution to servicemember-victims nationwide.  The Attorney General’s office has also provided training and support to military legal assistance attorneys on consumer protection issues.

The letter to Senator Manchin opposing the amendment is attached to the online version of this news release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.

LOS ANGELES – As students prepare to enroll in college this year and take out loans to pay for higher education, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following tips, encouraging Californians to know all the facts—and avoid potentially harmful scams—before taking on or paying off substantial student loans.  

In advance of enrolling in a college or university, students should thoroughly research the types of financial aid they may qualify for and determine which loans, scholarships, grants, or work-study programs would be most beneficial to their personal situation.   Student borrowers should be aware of factors that may impact their ability to repay student loans, such as changing the status of student enrollment, future job prospects, the amount of interest accruing on loans, and any loan prepayment penalties.          

Students should also be cautious of private companies that charge for what would normally be free student loan services.  Certain companies may impose fees for assisting with federal student loan consolidation or in submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), without disclosing that such services are actually free.  Student borrowers are strongly encouraged to use free student loan resources to avoid being charged unfair and unnecessary fees.

Consumers who take on student loans should be sure to make their payments on time.  Contact the student loan servicer promptly to discuss options if repayment of loans becomes difficult.  Eligible borrowers may be able to lower monthly payments or may be eligible for loan deferment, forbearance, or cancellation.  Late payments could adversely affect credit scores and harm future ability to make purchases or qualify for additional credit.    

What to look out for

The Attorney General offers student borrowers the following tips in order to educate themselves and take advantage of resources regarding student loans:

• Before taking on a student loan, research the types of financial aid that are available and consider ways to lower the cost of higher education programs.  To the extent possible, carefully consider job prospects, including salary information, in deciding whether and how to take out student loans.

• Do not sign a loan document electronically without first reviewing and understanding the terms of the loan agreement.  Make sure to understand how much money is being loaned, the interest rate of the loan, and when the loan will need to be repaid.  Inquire about the available options if loan payments cannot be made on time (which can come up during periods of unemployment, economic hardship, or enrollment in a graduate program).

• Be aware of the differences between federal and private student loans.  Federal student loans may offer lower, fixed interest rates, while private student loans may have higher, variable interest rates.  Additionally, federal student loans generally do not need to be repaid until the student graduates and loan consolidation and income-based or other more flexible repayment plans may be available.  In contrast, private student loans may need to be repaid while the student is still in school and may not offer deferment or forbearance options.    

• Be wary of private companies that charge a fee for assisting with filling out and submitting the FAFSA.  Such companies are unaffiliated with the government.  The U.S. Department of Education provides free assistance with filling out the FAFSA.

• Beware of companies that charge an application fee and monthly fees for assisting with consolidating federal student loan debt.  Consolidating federal student loans is FREE through the Federal Direct Consolidation Program.  The loan consolidation process combines several federal student loans into just one loan.  Consolidated loans may be eligible for various repayment plans, including income-driven repayment plans. 

• Ask about the student loan’s grace period and be aware that the grace period may change depending on circumstances.  Engaging in active military duty, returning to school, and consolidating loans may alter grace periods.  Make sure to stay in contact with student loan servicers to stay informed regarding the repayment time frame.
• Defaulting on student loans will adversely affect credit and will impede the ability to make purchases down the road.  It is important to stay in touch with student loan servicers, especially if there is a difficulty in making timely payments.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

The U.S. Department of Education provides information on the types of federal aid available to students.  The website includes basic eligibility requirements for federal aid.  Additionally, the FAFSA4caster assists consumers with calculating the amount of federal student aid for which they are eligible.

The U.S. Department of Education offers a comparison of federal student loans and private student loans. 

The Federal Student Aid website also helps student borrowers learn about federal loan consolidation before applying for consolidation.  Students who have questions regarding the loan consolidation process can contact the Loan Consolidation Information Call Center at (800) 557-7392. 

Finally, the Federal Student Aid website has information on scholarship opportunities that may help students fund their educational goals. 

What to do if you are the victim of a STUDENT LOAN scam

The Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Education investigates education programs and collects complaints regarding fraud or schemes related to the misuse of federal student aid.  If you are the victim of a student financial aid scam, please contact the Office of Inspector General’s hotline.

The California Department of Justice protects the rights of consumers and collects complaints on student loan scams in order to identify patterns of wrongful activity.  To submit a complaint to the California Department of Justice regarding a student loan scam, please use one of the following complaint forms:

English: https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company.  

En Español: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_sp.pdf

中文: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_chin.pdf

Tiếng Việt: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_viet.pdf

SAN FRANCISCO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued the following statement in response to the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

"Today's ruling protects the right of public employees working in our schools, universities, hospitals, and police agencies in California and across the nation to negotiate fair wages and benefits, without restricting any individual employee's freedom of speech. While this decision is a victory, we must keep fighting to protect the ability of working families to make a living wage and pursue the American dream."

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that her office has obtained a $1.1 billion judgment against defunct Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCI) for their predatory and unlawful practices. While CCI filed for bankruptcy in May 2015, this judgment can help secure further relief for struggling students.

Former Corinthian Students should visit the Attorney General’s Interactive Tool for tailored information to help them locate needed resources and relief.

In October 2013, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris led the charge against CCI and its subsidiaries that operate Everest, Heald, and Wyotech colleges, filing suit seeking to put an end to abusive practices that left tens of thousands of students under a mountain of debt and useless degrees. CCI filed for bankruptcy in May 2015. Today, the Court granted a default judgment against CCI.  In the judgment, the Court ordered restitution on behalf of students in the amount of $820,000,000 and civil penalties totaling $350,025,000, for a total of $1,170,025,000 in monetary relief. 

“For years, Corinthian profited off the backs of poor people – now they have to pay. This judgment sends a clear message: there is a cost to this kind of predatory conduct,” said Attorney General Harris. “My office will continue to do everything in our power to help these vulnerable students obtain all available relief, as they work to achieve their academic and professional goals.”

Attorney General Harris’ original complaint alleged that CCI intentionally targeted low-income, vulnerable Californians through deceptive and false advertisements and aggressive marketing campaigns that misrepresented job placement rates and school programs. CCI deployed these advertisements through persistent internet, telemarketing and television ad campaigns. The complaint further alleged that Corinthian executives knowingly misrepresented job placement rates to investors and accrediting agencies, which harmed students, investors and taxpayers. The Attorney General filed many of these documents in Court before entry of the Court’s judgment, and they are now publicly available.

In the Final Judgment, the Court found, among other things, that:

• From at least 2009 until the closure of its schools, many of CCI’s representations and advertisements related to job placement were untrue and/or misleading.   In numerous cases, the placement rate data in CCI’s files show that the actual placement rate is lower than the advertised rate.  The placement rates that CCI published were systematically false, misleading, erroneous and/or failed to comply with applicable state and federal regulations and/or accreditor standards.  In addition, many of these published placement rates could not be substantiated using CCI’s own internal placement data and files. 
• CCI did not offer ultrasound technician programs, x-ray technician programs, radiology technician programs, or dialysis technician programs in California.  Despite this fact, from at least 2010 until the filing of this action, CCI ran millions of ads stating that they did offer those programs.  CCI executives knew that these false ads misled students.
• CCI unlawfully used the official seals of the United States Department of the Army, the United States Department of the Navy, the United States Department of the Air Force, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard.
• CCI’s enrollment agreements contained unlawful clauses.
• CCI engaged in unlawful debt collection.
• CCI failed to discloses its role in the Genesis Private Student Loan Program.
• CCI misrepresented the transferability of credits.
• CCI misrepresented its financial stability to students.

In April 2015, Attorney General Harris and eight other state Attorneys General sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging immediate debt relief for the students who attended Heald College and other CCI campuses.  In May 2015, Attorney General Harris sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, asking the Department to exercise its authority under closed school discharge regulations to provide aid to students affected by Corinthian’s predatory practices.  In June 2015, after calls from Attorney General Harris for substantive relief for students suffering from crippling debt, the U.S. Department of Education announced expanded debt relief options for Corinthian students, which resulted in many more students being eligible for relief.  

Attorney General Harris remains committed to protecting vulnerable students, most recently through the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking sessions on borrower defense, where Attorney General Harris called for revisions to proposed borrower defense regulations to ensure meaningful debt relief for students misled by predatory for-profit colleges. 

A copy of the judgment is attached to the electronic version of this release at: https://oag.ca.gov/news 

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today, along with seven states, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), urging the Secretary to use his authority to restore educational and vocational rehabilitation benefits to thousands of veterans victimized by predatory practices carried out by for-profit schools such as Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (“Corinthian”).  The letter also asks VA Secretary Robert McDonald to take steps to ensure that veterans are given full and accurate information about the risks associated with using their benefits at certain schools.

“We honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans by ensuring that when they return home, they have access to benefits that will help them transition to civilian employment and build lives for themselves and their families,” stated Attorney General Harris in the letter.

“Rather than being honored, the veterans who enrolled in Corinthian schools were cheated out of these benefits.  ED has acted to remedy the harms suffered by student borrowers who were defrauded by Corinthian and other unscrupulous institutions—we respectfully urge you to act in harmony with your sister agencies and offer similar relief to student veterans who were harmed by precisely the same misconduct,” the Attorney General added. 

The letter specifically calls on the Department of Veterans Affairs to do three things:

1. Restore Benefits to Veterans Who Attended Institutions that Utilized Erroneous, Deceptive, or Misleading Advertising, Sales, or Enrollment Practices

The letter urges the VA to implement processes to restore G.I. Bill and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (“VR&E”) benefits to student veterans who used those benefits at schools found to have engaged in misleading and deceptive behavior.  This relief should be provided when a regulatory or enforcement action is taken by the U.S. Department of Education, a State Approving Agency, or a State Attorney General after a showing of misconduct, or when a court enters a judgment against a school, or upon application by a veteran or group of veterans alleging that an educational program or college has been deceptive or misleading.

2. Ensure that Veterans Have Full and Accurate Information

The letter urges the VA to fully educate veterans about their options and risks when choosing a school.  The VA should inform student veterans about the potential consequences of utilizing educational benefits at schools that have been subject to investigations or lawsuits. Early warnings and information will help veterans make informed choices.

3. Support the Efforts of State Approving Agencies and Attorneys General

Lastly, the signatories urge the VA to support states’ efforts to protect veterans from misconduct by for-profit institutions. Ensuring that the VA works collaboratively with and supports the efforts of the State Approving Agencies and Attorneys General in this context will help protect student veterans from future misconduct.

This letter is a continuation of Attorney General Harris’ efforts to protect and provide relief to students of for-profit schools. In 2013, Attorney General Harris filed a lawsuit against Corinthian for false advertising and deceptive marketing targeting vulnerable, low-income students and misrepresenting job placement rates to potential and current students, investors and accrediting agencies. Corinthian closed all of its California campuses on April 26, 2015.  Attorney General Harris has since called for the U.S. Department of Education to relieve the student loan debt of thousands of students who attended Corinthian.

Attorney General Harris is committed to protecting veterans and the benefits they earned through their dedicated service to our country. Last year, an alarming number of “pension poaching” scams targeting senior veterans and their survivors were reported to the California Department of Justice’s Public Inquiry Unit. Attorney General Harris consequently issued a consumer alert urging veterans to be wary of such schemes.

In November 2015, Attorney General Harris announced a stipulated judgment which resolved allegations that JPMorgan Chase (Chase) committed credit card debt-collection abuses against tens of thousands of Californians.  The Attorney General’s investigation and litigation further revealed that Chase violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the California Military and Veterans Code when it filed false declarations regarding military service and improperly obtained default judgments against servicemembers on active duty. 

The letter can be viewed here: https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/va-multi-state-letter.pdf. 

SAN FRANCISCO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued the following statement calling on the United States Department of Education (ED) to do more to protect students defrauded by Corinthian Colleges and other for-profit colleges.  Last week, ED held the second of three negotiated rulemaking sessions to determine how student borrowers can get relief from federal student loans when these loans were used at a school that abused and deceived the students.  Attorney General Harris’s office participated in the session as one of two representatives for state attorneys general and called repeatedly for greater protections for students.

“Too many students defrauded by for-profit colleges remain buried under mountains of student debt,” said Attorney General Harris.  “I call on the Department of Education to revise their proposed regulations to ensure meaningful debt relief is available to any student misled by a predatory college."

In the wake of the recent, public collapse of Corinthian Colleges, a joint investigation by ED and Attorney General Harris’s office found that job placement rates were widely misrepresented to enrolled and prospective Corinthian students.  Thousands of the school’s students have asked ED to discharge their federal loans because they were deceived by Corinthian’s inflated job placement rates. 

This issue is not limited to Corinthian Colleges. Other for-profit institutions have used similar dishonest tactics against their students, and it is expected that many more students will need to utilize this defense. 

Federal law, including ED’s regulations, gives students the right to have their loans discharged when their colleges have engaged in certain kinds of unlawful conduct—this right is referred to as a “defense to repayment.”  Yet current federal regulations provide little guidance on who may be eligible, how they should apply, or how ED will evaluate those applications.  Recently, Attorney General Harris’s office and other agencies have uncovered an extensive pattern of misconduct among many for-profit colleges, particularly regarding deceptive recruitment tactics.  As a result of the sharp increase in the number of student borrowers asserting their rights, ED initiated a “negotiated rulemaking” process for interested parties to provide input on new regulations governing defenses to repayment when a school has abused and deceived them.  As part of the process, ED convened a committee made up of stakeholders—including state attorneys general, students, student advocacy groups, public schools, for-profit schools, and accreditors, among others—to voice their positions on what the new rules should say.  Congress imposes this negotiated-rulemaking requirement whenever ED seeks to issue new regulations about student assistance for higher education.

At the committee’s first meeting in January, Attorney General Harris’s office, along with other state attorneys general and student advocacy groups, stressed the need for meaningful, robust, and streamlined loan-discharge procedures for students who have been victimized by their school.  At a subsequent meeting earlier this month, however, ED unveiled proposed language that contradicts the intent of previous discussions by narrowing, limiting, and delaying student relief in the following ways: 

1. ED’s proposal unreasonably limits the categories of school misconduct that would give rise to a defense to repayment.  The proposal limits students’ rights to circumstances where the colleges either breached a contract or engaged in “substantial misrepresentations,” ignoring other categories of rampant school misconduct that violate state law. 
2. ED’s proposal includes a two-year statute of limitations for borrowers to assert a defense to repayment.  This is patently unfair given that there is no corresponding statute of limitations for debt collectors in going after students for federal student loans. 
3. ED’s proposal does not provide any procedure to grant broad, automatic relief to borrowers, even when it is clear that a predatory school has systematically abused and deceived large numbers of students through widespread practices.  In these clear-cut cases, there is no practical reason to deny relief or to put an additional burden on students to again prove their case. 
4. In cases where the school has not already closed down, ED proposes that the decision to grant a discharge be made by pitting the student against the school in an adversary process, effectively requiring the student to hire a lawyer and allowing the school to interfere with the student's right to obtain relief on a government loan.  Any fair process should be sufficiently simple and straightforward so that a student can navigate it successfully without legal representation.

Attorney General Harris continues to call for changes to the new regulations.  Fair and effective defense-to-repayment procedures (1) must look to state law as a basis to assert a defense; (2) must not be limited by any time period; (3) must provide procedures for automatic, global relief to students where it is clear that they are the victims of rampant school misconduct; and (4) must not permit the school to make the process burdensome and expensive.