ITT students to get $20M in debt relief
Staff report
AUSTINTOWN — The Ohio Attorney General’s office has secured $20.6 million in debt relief for former ITT Technical Institute students in the state as part of a nationwide settlement with 47 other attorneys general and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Across the U.S., the settlement will result in debt relief of a $330 million for 35,000 students.
The company that operated ITT abruptly shut the doors at all its campuses, including in Austintown on Meridian Road, on Sept. 6, 2016, after the U.S. Department of Education banned it from enrolling new students who used federal financial aid.
The settlement is with PEAKS Trust, a private loan program run by the for-profit college and affiliated with Deutsche Bank entities.
PEAKS has agreed to forgo collection of the outstanding loans and cease doing business, will send notices to borrowers about the canceled debt and ensure that automatic payments are canceled. The settlement also requires PEAKS to supply credit reporting agencies with information to update credit information for affected borrowers.