Statement of Sameer Gadkaree:
“We applaud today’s action by the U.S. Department of Education, which should bring more than $6 billion of relief to more than 300,000 borrowers who were deceived by the Art Institute, a brand school of Education Management Corporation (EDMC). Now-defunct EDMC schools, including the Art Institute, engaged in widespread misleading and deceptive practices, including falsified job placement rates. We support the Department’s determination that Art Institute students are entitled to relief without additional delays. This action builds on previous relief for students at Corinthian, ITT, Westwood College, and other schools that has set over a million of these student borrowers on a fresh path.
“Today’s long-delayed justice should bring a measure of financial stability to borrowers who have borne the weight of this debt for too many years – in some cases, for two decades. We look forward to additional efforts to address student debt resulting from deceptive and misleading practices, and to efforts to address institutional loans provided by the Art Institute and other schools engaged in deceptive practices and fraud. We will continue advocating, along with our partners, for defrauded borrowers and stronger accountability policies for students and taxpayers to prevent the predatory practices that made this action today necessary.”
