Corinthian College students to get some relief from high-interest loans

Thousands of college students who got roped into taking out high-cost loans to attend a for-profit college are getting some relief.

Students of Corinthian College will get about $480 million in debt relief towards those loans thanks to a deal between federal agencies and a company that’s acquiring some Corinthian campuses.

Students will immediately see a 40 percent reduction in the amount they owe on these high-cost, private loans provided by Corinthian.

Corinthian is being sued by the Feds for the alleged predatory lending scheme, preying on low-income students, and falsely inflating job placement numbers.

Even before the lawsuit, Corinthian had begun selling or closing down its 100 campuses, where approximately 74,000 students were enrolled.

The ECMC Group, which owns one of the largest student loan guaranty agencies in the U.S., is taking over 50 of Corinthian’s campuses to run them as nonprofit schools. ECMC agreed to offer students this debt relief to avoid any liability for Corinthian’s alleged illegal activity.

Corinthian’s tuition is expensive – a bachelor’s degree can cost as much as $75,000. Federal loans won’t cover such high tuition, so students often had to take out private loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges that Corinthian kept tuition high in order to force students to borrow from the college at higher rates.