Student Defense Applauds Debt Relief for Former Art Institute EDMC Students, Reiterates Need to Hold Executives Accountable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2024

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Student Defense Applauds Debt Relief for Former Art Institute EDMC Students, Reiterates Need to Hold Executives Accountable

Today, the United States Department of Education announced the approval of “more than $6.1 billion in automatic student loan relief to nearly 317,000 borrowers who enrolled at any Art Institute campus on or after Jan. 1, 2004, through Oct. 16, 2017.” In response, Student Defense President Aaron Ament issued the following statement:

“This is a big victory for students who attended Art Institute schools when they were under EDMC’s ownership, and we thank the Department for taking this important action. In addition to providing critical relief to students, we need to hold wrongdoers accountable—otherwise executives will continue to exploit students for their own benefit. For five years, Student Defense has been in court fighting to hold the subsequent owners and executives of the Art Institute schools personally liable for their misdeeds, and we hope the government will join us in that effort.