College Closures : Many Impacted Borrowers Struggled Financially Despite Being Eligible for Loan Discharges. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. GAO-21-105373 / Melissa Emrey-Arras.
When a college closes, it can derail the education of many students, leaving them with loans but no degree. Those who cannot complete their education may be eligible to have their federal student loans forgiven through a "closed school discharge" from the Department of Education (Education...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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2021.
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| Summary: | When a college closes, it can derail the education of many students, leaving them with loans but no degree. Those who cannot complete their education may be eligible to have their federal student loans forgiven through a "closed school discharge" from the Department of Education (Education), but this process has changed in recent years. To further explore this issue, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined what happens to borrowers after colleges closed. To do this, GAO analyzed Education data on federal student loan borrowers who were enrolled at colleges that closed from 2010-2020; reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and agency documents; and interviewed Education officials and subject matter experts. Key findings included: (1) About 246,000 borrowers were enrolled at over 1,100 colleges that closed from 2010 through 2020; (2) 43% of impacted borrowers did not complete their program before their college closed or transfer to another college--showing that closures are often the end of the road for a student's education; and (3) Over 80,000 of these borrowers had their loans forgiven through a closed school discharge. |
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| Item Description: | Availability: US Government Accountability Office. 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20548. Tel: 202-512-6000; Web site: http://www.gao.gov. Abstractor: ERIC. Educational level discussed: Higher Education. Educational level discussed: Postsecondary Education. |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (20 pages) |
| Audience: | Policymakers. |
| Type of Computer File or Data Note: | Text (Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials) Text (Speeches/Meeting Papers) Text (Reports, Research) |
| Preferred Citation of Described Materials Note: | US Government Accountability Office. |