The company that owns the Art Institutes, Educational Management Corporation, was accused of violating US consumer protection laws, and in 2015, they agreed to forgive up to $103 million in student loan debt. I look at both schools and find out only the online will take all credits. Any advice? I entered New England Institute of Art from 2000 being told by the recruiters about the job placements and salary expectations. Hi I took out a parent plus loan for my son back in 2001 at the art institute of New England and my son only attended for a semester. Yet it went on for 15 years, duped some of the world's most sophisticated collectors, brought down a 165-year-old New York . They had the accreditation that goes with barber colleges, etc. I no longer work there because I do not have the skills to run the graphic design software, and was not capable of handling printing machines; in addition I was unable to execute various screen printing jobs using their machines and software, which are basic skills as a graphic designer so I was terminated. Yeah, the Online portion of the school is definitely open to Borrowers Defense Discharges. I am in the process of trying to get this loan discharged, but my loan provider needs more information from me to get this loan discharged, and using my deafness to get out of this loan. We are facing the very real possibility of losing our house because of this. The Department of Justice charged Education Management Corp, which also happens to be the former owner of the Art Institutes, a total of $11 billion for federal funding fraud. Not that I have a desire to go back and finish to get a degree I now no longer have an option to do so. I took loans out and Im currently 60-70K in debt. Student loans have been cited by 83% of people aged 22 to 35 with student debts. I attended the AI of Atlanta from 1993 to 1995. my enrollment process took about 1 week and at the time I was unemployed and had Zero income. I was finally able to get my career going but Im behind because of the years I lost waiting for my graphic design degree from the Art Institute to pay off. This case is filed against the ArtInstitute because of the companys lack of transparency. Thankyou very much for your time and help, Sal. Would we still be eligible to apply for loan forgiveness? However, there are other two conditions to be aware of it youre thinking of applying for this program. Second, if you had already completed all your coursework before the school closed, but just hadnt received your diploma yet, then you also wont be eligible for the discharge.. Is this correct? Im not saying that there isnt good information out there from sources not associated with the US government (after all, Im one of those types of sites), but I am saying that there are a lot of scammers trying to steal money from people, so be sure to be cautious in choosing who to trust.. The biggest art fraud in modern U.S. history was shockingly simple. Its like an advisory process and paperwork processing service. And I believe that the AI is a scam and need some help. That same year in October, there was an Art Institute lawsuit by former students from Art Institute of Colorado and Illinois Institute of Art against the department and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. I had a GED and a little hope at the time. I was never told that they acted completely differently and they caused me great confusion when Sallie Mae and friends started hounding me for a MASSIVE precedent of my income. We both went to the Art Institute in Costa Mesa from 2006-2008. Why would you do this? Hi Tim, I attended The Art Institute of California and graduated in 2008. Any other details you can provide to help build a strong case against the school. If you are covered in the class, youre automatically in it. As a result, students may qualify for this settlement. Therefore, assuming that you qualify for both I would suggest going with the Closed School Loan Discharge Program because the applications to the Borrowers Defense program are taking such a long time to process. For more information, please go to studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/borrower-defense. However, it is also vital to point out that knowing what ongoing trends are within the framework. I was never told about how students loans worked federal or private. Definitely go for Borrowers Defense. NOTE:The link takes you to the official government website and is reliable. Im hoping to get out from under this felt for an education I didnt get! Oh, good find James! I do think this might be enough, and I would absolutely pursue BDAR. Also few years back the school was sold and now found out thatAIP closing. The strongest argument you have so far is the 100% job placement, which may be enough, all on its own, to qualify, but Id try to make this case even stronger if you can find something else as well. Anything you can recommend that I do? The Nelnet loan is in my name and the Parent Plus in my moms. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges that the school promised her a job in the fashion industry after she graduated, but she was unable to find work in that field. Good question! Im just letting you know this in advance so that you dont get discouraged if you dont hear back from the Department of Education immediately. I went to the art institute of Seattle some years back and had to take out loans to do so. To avoid paying taxes on your student loan forgiveness income, follow these steps. Follow the explanations in my Guide on which details to include in your application and you will have the best chance on getting your discharge approved. Good luck! My loans were originally federal loans, along with Sallie Mae, who all of a sudden sold to Navient without any of our knowledge. I was 4 classes away from graduating!! You should pursue the BDAR Discharge even if it seems unlikely, because it was made for people like you. Hello Tim and thank you for your article and useful information! We strongly encourage you to apply at the earliest and benefit from the loan forgiveness. Students of the Art Institute can be a little lucky in . My loans were a little higher than $50,000. Education Dept. Hi Tim i applied to have my loan forgiven back in October. EDMC is also affiliated with the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), which revoked the accreditation of Art. My School Did This To Me: Predatory Recruitment 2. Thanks. The Art Institute of Phoenix is accredited by the. The Art Institutes was a subsidiary owned by the Educational Management Corporation. They ended up giving me a list of schools that were take art institute student credits The school I ended up choosing didnt take any of my Fort lauderdale credits only the New England ones. And, an additional 50k! Will I get a email? The Art Institute lied to students about the benefits of its education. Im not sure I qualify, but they were very misleading. The school has also closed now too, so itd pretty difficult to access your old transcripts, but you SHOULD still be able to source them somehow. Other students took out loans as well in order to attend the school and many of these students have already had their loans forgiven. I am alumnus from 2006-2009 enrollment. The lawsuit is a class action suit against EDMC for violating consumer protection laws. Those Job Placement Rate promises may be just the ticket! Also, I felt like I had to take over the classes I took at Orange Coast College like some didnt transfer over. The BDAR letters used to have to be hand written, and it was much more complicated, but theyve streamlined things significantly. They completely robbed me blind and the runaround kept me from even getting a degree.they say i owe them money for a class i never took and couldnt attend until i payed. Then, the school sent the balance to a collection agency that is threatening to garnish my wages. Now, a group of students is fighting back. Hence, it is advisable not to waste any further time. Students caught in the unfortunate incident of Educational Management Corporations demise can apply for loan forgiveness in two ways: The firststudent loan forgivenessprogram (The Closed program) is operational under the federal governments long-standing intervention in the case of students from colleges that were closed down due to one reason or the other. The 74 pages of emails and documents released by Scott illustrate Dream Center . 5. When you write your Borrowers Defense Claim you need to stress the fact that the Art Institute was involved in a lawsuit because they broke the law by doing illegal things to encourage students to attend their schools, and to take out student loans in order to pay for their attendance.. Do not overlook or rush through this essential part of your claim, because its literally the most important thing for you prove. I was only called in to sign documents to keep going through my classes until graduating in November of 2003. Scammers frequently attempt to steal money from you and waste your time. Education Management Corp agreed to settle for $95 million to prevent further action against alleged consumer fraud and illegal recruiting tactics. I am stuck in tying the lawsuit on AI to the BDAR. How can I join this class action lawsuit? Consolidations may cause problems, but it depends on how the loans were consolidated, and what sorts of loans were included. Hey Zach, I went to that website that Tim Suggested Wayback Machine and I was able to find claims of actual percentages and salaries that were guaranteed on the AI website. Ive spoken with a loan forgiveness company Rely on Light House. I attended the Art Institute of Atlanta in the mid-90s. The Art Institute scandal is a travesty and a deep betrayal of the trust of a student body that includes plenty of military veterans on the G.I. This wouldnt be enough to get an approval for a BDAR application. By pursuing a class-action lawsuit, they can be held liable for any misdeeds that led to a loss of employment. EDMCs parent is also named in the suit. Everything they told me (guaranteed job placement, starting salary, etc) were all done verbally in person. After my second semester, I suspected it was a big lie with the quality of education I was getting. I only signed up for a Diploma but i will still have the 11,ooo loan to pay off. Keep trying to contact them. Do you think Im eligible for loan forgiveness? Definitely try for the Closed School Discharge first, then only use BDAR if that fails. Please give me more information on how to enter into this law suite. Be sure to check that out.. Im not sure what years you attended but go back to the beginning of the snapshots they have saved and check out the career services pages. Bogus and unfair nobody care about the older students. If youre having problems with taxes, be sure to visit Forget Tax Debt, or simply check out my pages about Filing and Paying IRS Back Taxes, IRS Tax Debt Settlements, IRS Tax Debt Forgiveness, and The IRS Fresh Start Program. Schneider herself is now unemployed and drowning in 30,000 dollars' worth of student loans. In September 2016, the US Department of Education revoked the schools accreditation. My opinion is that filing for bankruptcy is the easiest way to wipe out private loans, but as we all know how difficult that is, theres truly no silver bullet here. If approved, does this program cancel/dismiss private loans as well? Thank You for your time. Going to that school was the worse decision of my life. Hello, I currently have Fedloan as a Parent Plus loan and a Nelnet Loan. I know I can apply for the Borrowers Defense to Repayment program. Hi Tim, Thank you for all of this great info! We do not claim to represent any government agency. (801) 890-4721. It really was just enough so that if you compared the class and the syllabus description I had taken before, and unless you sat in the class as I did, you wouldnt really know you were in the same class. As a result, students may qualify for this settlement. I am really nervous that I will not have enough proof for my claim. Hi Tim! The Art Center agreed to pay nearly $200 million in damages after being sued for false advertising and deceptive practices. The complaint was ultimately settled for $95.5 million. Id think it would not matter since they broke the law in the first place, altering there graduate employment rates in order to convince me to take out loans and attend the school. Can i get my money back? When they asked about this, they say she promised as soon as he graduates, hes guaranteed a job, and hell make around $60,000/year. They also promised to help place him in a job upon graduation. Thanks for creating this site and providing all of this info. Misrepresented job placement and graduation rates. I called AI and was told I had a $3000 balance on my account and thats why it was being withheld. You need something a little stronger here! These companies charge to help you figure out which programs youre eligible for and take care of paperwork. Im retired and disable and they sent me a letter today to garnish my Social Security benefits. Take a look at my section on Private Student Loan Debt Relief, and Private Student Loan Forgiveness Programs for details on whats available there. Borrowers Defense to Repayment assists students who were victims of misleading recruiters, false advertisements, or university officials who engaged in misconduct. They were also sketchy when it came to their accreditation, which I discovered when I attempted to transfer to another design program at a different school. I dont have a link to the court documents, but you may be able to find them via Google searches. Avoid these websites and apply at the link above. Former Everest and WyoTech Students can check the following link to see if your program and dates of study are included in the Department of Education's findings that your school defrauded students and violated the law: List of Everest/WyoTech Programs and Enrollment Dates Covered by Department of Education Findings..