The U.S. Department of Education announced on Friday that the student loans of more than 1,800 borrowers who attended a for-profit college were fraud victims.
In a statement, the Biden administration said they were canceling more than $55 million in debt for former students that attended Westwood College, the Marinello Schools of Beauty, and the Court Reporting Institute.
"Today’s announcement continues the U.S. Department of Education’s commitment to standing up for students whose colleges took advantage of them,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in the news release. “The Department will continue doing its part to review and approve borrower defense claims quickly and fairly so that borrowers receive the relief that they need and deserve. We also hope these approvals serve as a warning to any institution engaging in similar conduct that this type of misrepresentation is unacceptable."
The Biden administration has now forgiven a total of $1.5 billion in student loans thus far.
According to the Associated Press, the Dept. of Education is attempting to clear a backlog of claims in the borrower defense program, which offers defrauded students loan forgiveness.
There are more than 100,000 claims currently backlogged, the AP reported.
