Here's the letter 15 students refusing to pay their federal loans wrote to the Department of Education

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You would think borrowing 50,000 to go to a school someone would spend a few minutes of research to see these were not good schools. I am glad the government took the step of getting these schools closed down. I wish they would stop giving loans and grants to students of other schools that charge way to much compared to what they offer - looking directly at you University of Phoenix, Apollo, and ITT.

From the Wall street Journal (quoted on WP): "In February 2015, ECMC, a non-profit education firm, took ownership of more than half of Corinthian Colleges' campuses. ECMC also agreed to forgive student debt on Corinthian College's Genesis loans after a series of years"

Why school assets were not taken and sold and used to pay the students debts owed to the government is beyond me.. Someone was able to walk away with the cash while the schools went to another set of owners.

What do you think happens with the assets of all those failed charter schools that were built with taxpayer funds meant to go towards schooling our young? The exact same thing. This whole privatization of education scheme is primarily a means of further enriching the rich on the taxpayer's dime. That's what it is all about.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

What do you think happens with the assets of all those failed charter schools that were built with taxpayer funds meant to go towards schooling our young? The exact same thing. This whole privatization of education scheme is primarily a means of further enriching the rich on the taxpayer's dime. That's what it is all about.

That's not on topic but.. I could not care less if someone makes money by improving the process of education at the same or lower cost. The schools in this case clearly do not - along with a host of other diploma factory schools - and should not receive public funding (or accreditation). THe government did the right thing in getting them shut down.

Charter schools should be treated no differently - if they can prove they can educate equal to or better for equal to or less money then good for them and it's money well spent. If not they should be shut down as they are a waste of time and money.

But that's not the topic - 15 students took out loans and now beleive they should not have to pay the money back. The argument they put forth is that education itself is too expensive and not worth it. That is the wrong approach - They should be saying these schools never should have been given accreditation in the first place and therefore students should never have been able to receive loans. Either way their ultimate argument is that the government should have saved them from themselves.

Edited February 27, 2015 by OnMyWayID

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

That's not on topic but.. I could not care less if someone makes money by improving the process of education at the same or lower cost. The schools in this case clearly do not - along with a host of other diploma factory schools - and should not receive public funding (or accreditation). THe government did the right thing in getting them shut down.

Charter schools should be treated no differently - if they can prove they can educate equal to or better for equal to or less money then good for them and it's money well spent. If not they should be shut down as they are a waste of time and money.

But that's not the topic - 15 students took out loans and now beleive they should not have to pay the money back. The argument they put forth is that education itself is too expensive and not worth it. That is the wrong approach - They should be saying these schools never should have been given accreditation in the first place and therefore students should never have been able to receive loans. Either way their ultimate argument is that the government should have saved them from themselves.

I think the ultimate argument is - or should be - that the government should not be underwriting loans for students to waste on degree mills.

[unsmiley 111]

You would think borrowing 50,000 to go to a school someone would spend a few minutes of research to see these were not good schools. I am glad the government took the step of getting these schools closed down. I wish they would stop giving loans and grants to students of other schools that charge way to much compared to what they offer - looking directly at you University of Phoenix, Apollo, and ITT.

From the Wall street Journal (quoted on WP): "In February 2015, ECMC, a non-profit education firm, took ownership of more than half of Corinthian Colleges' campuses. ECMC also agreed to forgive student debt on Corinthian College's Genesis loans after a series of years"

Why school assets were not taken and sold and used to pay the students debts owed to the government is beyond me.. Someone was able to walk away with the cash while the schools went to another set of owners.

I think it is not just the "for profit" schools that are a scam. Prestigious private and state universities charge much more than the costs of education, and their tuitions go up much more than the rate of inflation each year. They are immune from the state of the economy and market forces, and the government facilitates this by continuing to lend students money for these endless increases. Universities answer to no one, and are not truly non-profit either. Take a look at their endowments and building and development funds, for example. With not-so-creative accounting, this vast amount of money is going somewhere.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

There was an update on this today - Looks like all of the schools in this story are going to close after the government levied a 30 million dollar fine for lying about the number of student who were able to get a job after completing their degree.

I heard this on the Radio so this is from memory: all students with outstanding loans in this case (16,000) have a process to discharge their loans using the money from the fines.. However there is no plan underway to inform these students of this option.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

There was an update on this today - Looks like all of the schools in this story are going to close after the government levied a 30 million dollar fine for lying about the number of student who were able to get a job after completing their degree.

I heard this on the Radio so this is from memory: all students with outstanding loans in this case (16,000) have a process to discharge their loans using the money from the fines.. However there is no plan underway to inform these students of this option.

I heard this too! They will attempt to proactively contact any other students who has a debt to this location and let them know their debts will be dismissed. Great job for the U.S. government.

[rlogan 2,036]

the government levied a 30 million dollar fine for lying about the number of student who were able to get a job after completing their degree.

Even if someone gets a job "after completing their degree" we can't assume it was the degree that got them the job, or whether it was a better job than they could have gotten anyway.

What I saw all through school was this mindless "education is your future" mantra without attention at all on what fields paid well, what courses of study looked like, etc. It is still our responsibility as individuals to look out for our own best interest. But you would expect better out of our high schools - if they really are preparing you for work or higher education then why is there no attention at all on those things.

It may be different now. But I also saw an extreme antagonism towards work when I was going to school. I was pumping gas at a gas station when we saw a film in one of my classes about how bad that was - how sure, you had money but you should be focusing on school instead. For a lot of people that is outright bad advice. Having money instead of being $50,000 in debt...

[X Factor 1,110]

It's hard to get student loan forgiveness even when filing for bankruptcy

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The federal government should not finance these degree mills. None of them. They go out of business. Young people don't end up with a pile of debt. Problem solved.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

The federal government should not finance these degree mills. None of them. They go out of business. Young people don't end up with a pile of debt. Problem solved.

EDU up to bachelors should be free.

[Bugs 455]

The 15 could try and get their former college to pay back the loan for the broken promises, but it isn't really the Fed's problem or fault, in my opinion.

College costs are outrageous of course, but that is a separate issue.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

EDU up to bachelors should be free.

No argument from me. But admission should be merit based. Period.

[Póg mo 1,749]

I think the ultimate argument is - or should be - that the government should not be underwriting loans for students to waste on degree mills.

I think the ultimate argument is that government shouldn't be helping to businesses to prey upon vulnerable people, many of whom aren't yet mature enough to understand the long term consequences of going into debt.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I think the ultimate argument is that government shouldn't be helping to businesses to prey upon vulnerable people, many of whom aren't yet mature enough to understand the long term consequences of going into debt.

I think we're really saying the same thing. Fact is that these degree mills - I won't call them colleges because they don't deserve that label - have no way of surviving, let alone turn huge profits, were it not for the federal government to underwrite the very loans that enable their students to enroll.