Department of Education Announces It Will Extend Relief to Former Students Who Attended Closed ITT Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 26, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT:
press@defendstudents.org | 202-734-7495

Department of Education Announces It Will Extend Relief to Former Students Who Attended Closed ITT Schools

The Relief Was Proposed By Student Defense and Supported by Senator Durbin As Part of the Student Defense 100 Day Docket Series

WASHINGTON, DC – In October 2020, Student Defense proposed that the Department of Education promptly provide relief to borrowers harmed by school closures by using its authority to extend closed school discharge eligibility periods, and then provide the relief automatically without the borrower needing to apply. Today, the Department announced that it is doing just that for borrowers who attended ITT Tech. Following the Department’s announcement, Student Defense Vice President Alex Elson issued the following statement:

“Thanks to Secretary Cardona and President Biden, thousands of former ITT students will finally get the relief they’ve been owed for far too long. At the same time, there are countless others who attended other predatory institutions who are still waiting. We hope the Department will continue to implement our recommendations to make things right for all of them, too.”

The memo that first proposed extending the closed school eligibility windows, “Justice at Last: Pathways to Promptly Expanding Closed School and Borrower Defense Relief Using Existing Regulations” is available here.

The paper, by Student Defense Vice President Alex Elson, provides a roadmap for how the Department can provide identical, automatic closed school debt relief to students who attended many schools in addition to ITT.

More information about the 100 Day Docket project is available at www.100DayDocket.org.