Biden administration cancels loans for 260,000 former Ashford University students WSOC TV [Video]

WASHINGTON — (AP) — More than 260,000 former students of the now-defunct for-profit Ashford University are getting their student loans erased as the Biden administration presses ahead with debt forgiveness in its final days.

Ashford was once one of the nation’s largest for-profit college companies, with more than 100,000 students. It was owned by the company Zovio until the University of Arizona bought the online college in 2020.

The Education Department started forgiving loans for Ashford students after a California court found the college routinely misled prospective students about its accreditation, costs and the time it would take to graduate.

In 2023 the agency canceled loans for an initial 2,300 former Ashford students who applied for relief through the borrower defense program. The new action expands forgiveness to all former students who attended during the alleged misconduct, even if they didn’t apply for relief.

The administration’s new action will erase loan balances for borrowers who attended Ashford from March 2009 through April …