- The Biden administration on Wednesday approved over $6.1B in student loan relief for former pupils of The Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges that closed last September. Washington Free Beacon (LR: 5 CP: 3)
- According to the Department of Education, the loan relief will apply to nearly 317K borrowers who attended any Art Institute campus between Jan. 1, 2004, and Oct. 16, 2017. ED
- The Art Institutes, and its parent company, the Education Management Corporation (EDMC), are accused of making misleading statements about postgraduate employment outcomes, salaries, and career services to persuade prospective students. ED
- The Department of Education's investigation — launched after evidence provided by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Iowa, and Pennsylvania — found that the chain claimed its employment rate was 80% when it was under 57%. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Under EDMC, which is now bankrupt, there were as many as 50 Art Institute campuses across the country that are now closed. Yahoo News
- The White House has so far relieved a total of $160B in student loan debt for 4.6M borrowers, including $29B for 1.6B people who were misled or defrauded by their colleges. FOX News (LR: 4 CP: 4)
Democratic narrative:
- The Biden administration continues to follow through on its promise to grant desperately needed student debt relief to millions of borrowers, and its latest action helps those who need it the most. For over a decade, The Art Institutes and other for-profit colleges blatantly lied to prospective students, saddling them with thousands in debt. Those people deserve justice, and forgiving their student debt benefits them and the economy.
AYANNA PRESSLEY
Republican narrative:
- After the Supreme Court struck down Biden's unconstitutional $430B student debt forgiveness plan, his administration has continued to undermine the decision, doling out billions at a time. Biden has circumvented Congress and the courts to buy the votes of young people, many of whom are leaving the Democratic Party. While borrowers who attended The Art Institutes deserve some form of compensation, Biden has only offered temporary fixes to deep-rooted problems. These band-aid solutions will only exacerbate the student debt bubble.
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 50% chance that the US student loan debt bubble will "pop" by 2038, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)