The action will automatically discharge loans for 2,300 borrowers who attended Ashford from March 2009 through April 2020 and applied for cancellation through the Education Department’s borrower defense program. Those borrowers will see their loan balances zeroed out, and they will be refunded for payments on their federal loans.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta encouraged other former Ashford students to apply for relief if they were deceived.
“What Ashford University did to its students was unconscionable and illegal,” Bonta said. “That’s why the California Department of Justice took Ashford and its parent company to court.”
Under its previous ownership, Ashford’s recruiters told students they would be able to work as teachers, social workers, nurses and drug and alcohol counselors, but the school never got accreditation for those professions, according to California’s lawsuit.
Recruiters also told potential students they would never face out-of-pocket costs, which wasn’t always true, and they boasted about “accelerated” programs, even though the bachelor’s degree programs were structured to take five years to finish, the suit said.
Only 25% of Ashford students graduated within eight years of enrolling.