Paxton announces $13 million in debt relief for Texas ITT Tech students in multistate settlement

[TexasTowelie]

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced a $13 million debt relief agreement for 1,430 former ITT Tech students in Texas as part of a 43-state settlement with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC. Nationally, the settlement will result in debt relief for more than $168 million for more than 18,000 former ITT Tech students.

CUSO offered loans to finance students’ tuition at the failed for-profit college, ITT Tech, which filed for bankruptcy in 2016 following action by the U.S. Department of Education to restrict ITT Tech’s access to federal student aid.

ITT Tech, with CUSO’s knowledge, offered new enrollees temporary credit in order to cover the gap in tuition costs between federal student aid and the full cost of their education. Although most students believed that like with federal student loans the temporary credit was due to be paid six months after their graduation, ITT Tech demanded the credit be paid back the following academic year. When students could not repay their credit on short notice, ITT Tech pulled students out of class and threatened to expel them in order to coerce students into accepting high-interest loans from CUSO.

“Students who attended ITT Tech are burdened with unpayable debts they received while pursuing an honest education. This college and loan program have failed them tremendously,” Attorney General Paxton said. “I am proud of my office for holding CUSO accountable for their abusive loan practices and aiding students who were pressured into signing a loan without knowledge of the full cost or deadlines.”

Read more: https://www.itemonline.com/news/paxton-announces-million-in-debt-relief-for-texas-itt-tech/article_8ec40094-8f20-11e9-90ae-738da579ced8.html
(Huntsville Item)

[rownesheck]

1. ITT Tech.

Jeez. Right after I graduated high school years ago, one of their people kept calling me and some of my friends non stop trying to set up a meeting to try and get us to enroll. I kept telling him I wasn't interested, but he wouldn't let up. He even resorted to telling me my plans for college were useless.

Finally, in order to stop his phone calls, I agreed to a meeting. One of my friends did the same thing. We both made sure to not be home when our meetings were to take place. That guy was not happy. In fact, he called my friend and berated him for making him drive all the way out to our houses and then not being there for the meetings.

Hey, we tried to tell that bastard we weren't interested. He should've listened.