Quick Answer: The Department of Education announced automatic loan cancellations for five Dream Center Education Holdings schools but requires other affected students to initiate forgiveness themselves. Students may qualify for closed school discharge if their DCEH school closed while enrolled or they withdrew after June 29, 2018.
The Department of Education has announced, “that more students who attended 24 schools owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH) could qualify for a closed school loan discharge.”
What makes this ridiculous is the Department has announced automatic loan cancellations for five of the DCEH schools but not the rest.
Loans are being cancelled for students enrolled between Jan. 20, 2018, and Dec. 14, 2018, at the following DCEH-owned schools:
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- The Art Institute of Colorado (two locations) – Denver, CO
- The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago, IL
- The Illinois Institute of Art – Schaumburg – Schaumburg, IL
- The Illinois Institute of Art – The Art Institute of Michigan – Novi, MI
The rest of the DCEH schools are still subject to the forgiveness process that must be initiated and driven by the impacted students.
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As a student loan borrower, you may be eligible for a closed school loan discharge of the federal student loans you borrowed to attend a DCEH-owned school under either of these circumstances:
Your DCEH-owned school closed while you were enrolled. If you were on an approved leave of absence from your DCEH-owned school, for purposes of the federal student aid programs, you are considered to have been enrolled, or
You withdrew from all classes at a DCEH-owned school named below on or after June 29, 2018. A closed school loan discharge normally applies only if you withdrew from your school within 120 days of the school’s closure date, or if you were attending when the school closed. However, ED made an exception for the schools listed below.
Contact your federal loan servicer or visit StudentAid.gov/closedschool to learn more about all of the closed school loan discharge eligibility requirements and the process. Completed closed school loan discharge applications must be returned to your loan servicer.
These schools include:
- The Art Institute of Phoenix – Phoenix, AZ
- Argosy University – Inland Empire – Ontario, CA
- Argosy University – The Art Institute of California – Sacramento – Sacramento, CA
- Argosy University – The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire – San Bernardino, CA
- Argosy University – San Diego – San Diego, CA
- Argosy University – The Art Institute of California – San Francisco – San Francisco, CA
- Argosy University – The Art Institute of California – Orange County – Santa Ana, CA
- Argosy University – Denver – Denver, CO
- The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale – Fort Lauderdale, FL
- The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale – Harbor Place Building – Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Argosy University – Sarasota – Sarasota, FL
- Argosy University – Schaumburg – Schaumburg, IL
- The Art Institute of Phoenix – The Art Institute of Indianapolis – Indianapolis, IN
- Miami International University of Art & Design – Art Institute of Charlotte – Charlotte, NC
- Miami International University of Art & Design – Art Institute Raleigh – Durham, NC
- The Art Institute of Portland – Portland, OR
- The Art Institute of Portland – Industrial Design Workshop – Portland, OR
- The Art Institute of Portland – Culinary Arts Facility – Portland, OR
- The Art Institute of Philadelphia (two locations) – Philadelphia, PA
- The Art Institute of Atlanta – The Art Institute of Charleston – Charleston, SC
- The Art Institute of Atlanta – Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville – Nashville, TN
- Argosy University – Nashville – Nashville, TN
- The Art Institute of Atlanta – The Art Institute of Washington – Arlington, VA
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I attended the Art Institute of California San Francisco and graduated in December 2011. The school closed in 2018. I don’t qualify for the loan discharge (even though my degree is worthless) but I wanted to know if I would qualify for the borrowers defense? This school was having problems with accreditation while I attended. Many other issues as well. I have both private and federal loans that I’ m struggling to pay back. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Robyn
It is a difficult question because while you might have a valid argument for the Borrower Defense Claim the current Department of Education is doing whatever they can to not grant them. See https://getoutofdebt.org/tag/borrower-defense-to-repayment