ITT Educational Services, which operated vocational schools on 130 campuses across 38 states, abruptly closed in September 2016. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

More than 200,000 students who attended classes at ITT Technical Institute will see their student loan debt erased under plans announced by the Department of Education on Tuesday, but the move won’t restore GI Bill benefits for veterans defrauded by the school.

Advocates say that omission is a disappointing footnote in an otherwise important decision to help students victimized by the school.

“These students deserve to have their student loans canceled after having been so misled about the education at ITT, the transferability of credits, and employment after graduation,” said Della Justice, vice president of legal affairs at Veterans Education Success. “But it is a total shame that veterans who were cheated out of their GI Bill benefits will not get their GI Bill back.”

Education officials said the move to dismiss all remaining federal student debt related to ITT loans will provide about $3.9 billion in financial relief to individuals across the country.

The loan forgiveness applies to students who attended classes from January 2005 to September 2016. The for-profit school had an annual enrollment of more than 40,000 and about 130 campuses across the country at one point, but was forced into bankruptcy after regulators blocked students from using federal loans to attend classes there in 2016.

Read the full story at Militarytimes.com.

Author: Military Times

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