AG announces ITT loan forgiveness for New Mexicans

New Mexicans will receive about $38.8 million in student loan forgiveness, according to an Aug. 16 announcement by state Attorney General Hector Balderas, following a decision by the U.S. Department of Education to discharge all federal student loans that borrowers received to attend ITT Technical Institute.

Nationwide 208,000 borrowers will receive about $3.9 billion in full loan discharges if they attended ITT from Jan. 1, 2005, until its closure in Sept. 2016. No additional action is required on the part of the borrowers.

In New Mexico, the Department of Education action will affect about 1,950 people, according to the state news release.

According to the release, Balderas began lawsuits against ITT after its closure for deceiving students about accreditation of its nursing program.

An Aug. 16 news release from the Department of Education also indicated that ITT engaged in “widespread and pervasive misrepresentations” about students' ability to obtain jobs or transfer credits.

A statement issued by ITT Educational Services in September 2016 upon its closing said that it had been denied due process to hearings or appeals and that its suggestions for alternative remedies were rejected. It called the Department of Education's actions “inappropriate and unconstitutional” and "reprehensible."

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office was one of about 25 in the United States working to investigate and obtain evidence, according to the Department of Education. Attorney general offices in Oregon and Colorado led the effort, but New Mexico and Iowa offices were noted by the federal department as providing “significant evidence” used in the litigation