Students who attended WyoTech under their former ownership may see their student loan debts forgiven.
A settlement agreement has been reached between Pennsylvania and Aequitas Capital Management, a defunct investment firm who holds the student loan accounts for students who attended the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges, who used to own several for-profit college brands, including Wyotech, Everest, and others. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a media release that Aequitas and Corinthian “engaged in predatory practices that preyed on students trying to better themselves through education.”
The original investigation into Corinthian’s practices, conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, showed that Corinthian students were not told the portion of their tuition funded by the Aequitas-financed loans was a trick to gain access to federal funds, and that the loans had historically-high interest rates. The investigation also showed that Corinthian induced students to enroll with misrepresented job placement statistics. Since the investigation, WyoTech was purchased by an un-related company and remains open in Blairsville.
The agreement, which still needs to be approved by a court in Oregon, would provide $6.7 million in debt relief for 1200 Pennsylvanians who attended the colleges. It’s part of a broader agreement worth $192 million in debt for former Corinthian students. Once approved, the agreement will be filed with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of consumer protection.
