ATLANTA — The White House has announced loan relief for students who took out a loan to attend The Art Institute of Atlanta.
The $6.1 billion in automatic student loan relief is valid for anyone who enrolled in any Art Institute campus from January 1, 2004 through October 16, 2017.
The Art Institutes system of schools permanently closed on September 30, 2023.
In addition to the Art Institute of Atlanta, their parent company, Education Management Corporation (EDMC) operated schools in Miami and Tampa in Florida, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio in Texas, and one in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The U.S. Department of Education said in a statement that they found that The Art Institutes and its parent company, EDMC, “made pervasive and substantial misrepresentations to prospective students about postgraduation employment rates, salaries, and career services during that time.”
“For more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of hopeful students borrowed billions to attend The Art Institutes and got little but lies in return. That ends today—thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s work with the attorneys general offices of Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “We must continue to protect borrowers from predatory institutions—and work toward a higher education system that is affordable to students and taxpayers.”