However, I would still TRY to apply for the Closed School Discharge Program if I were you, hoping that it will include a refund. You should definitely go for the Closed School Loan Discharge Program. They really did me wrong. The Art Institute misled me into believing I was going to get a high paying job that would easily cover my loans. As of today, the Educational Management Corporation has failed to admit any wrongdoing even after the Art Institutes lawsuit wen against it. I found out she was terminated from The Art Institute. Former students can obtain the art institute loan forgiveness under these provisions. The class action lawsuit against the Art Institute of Colorado is a step in the right direction to holding these schools accountable and protecting students from being taken advantage of. At the same time, they should be aware of what they are doing. I would try to find out if they did anything else, however, like promising a job in the field of study, promising a set salary level, or a position in management, etc. Some federal programs provide forgiveness for student debt, but it is critical to avoid shady websites. I graduated from the Art of Institute of Schaumburg, and cannot get a job anywhere, as the school lost its accreditation, and the diploma isnt worth the paper its printed on. They start the enrollment process and then I get an email saying my enrollment application was cancelled. The Art Institutes Closures Spark Panic amongst Students Did you submit a BDAR request or a Closed School Discharge application? Along with Brown Mackie College lawsuits, other for-profit schools will go through this procedure. they told me it would all be grants. If neither of the above exclusions apply to you, and you were a student of the school when it closed (or left near enough to the closing date), then you stand a very good chance of achieving Art Institute loan forgiveness via the Closed School Loan Discharge Program, and I would encourage you to apply for the benefit right away. At The Art Institute of Houston financial aid is available to those who qualify. The Art Institute of California Inland Empire Convinced Me to Borrow Money On: Date Enrolled: 1/07/2008 and Graduated: 12/04/2012 3. This misled me and my mother. Its so frustrating Thank you. I am alumnus from 2006-2009 enrollment. Therefore, if youre still wondering whether or not the forgiveness benefits for the Art Institute are legitimate, I can tell you with certainty that YES, this is likely your best and perhaps only opportunity to wipe out your student loans. What exactly did they tell you? Some of us might need to wait out the lawsuit in order to receive the Closed School Discharge since the school (Ai of Pittsburgh) closed in March. We paid cash for most of our daughters tuition but had to take a Parent Plus for the last $5000 due to her not passing one of her classes. And I am still not able to find a job in the field or with enough pay to pay back the $90k in debt that I have from the school. The recruiter told us that all of the student get jobs paying over $30,000, so that the money we take out in loans shouldnt be a problem later on. That same year in October, there was an Art Institute lawsuit by former students from Art Institute of Colorado and Illinois Institute of Art against the department and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Yeah, you can include multiple loans in your claim the argument is against the SCHOOL, not against the Loan, so one claim can cover several loans. I would absolutely pursue this in your case, and just make sure to provide as much evidence as possible for your story. Unfortunately, it doesnt sound like the school did anything illegal here. You must have a federal student loan and work full-time for an employer that is qualified to offer it. The Art Institute is currently facing a class-action lawsuit for violations of consumer protection laws. Consolidations may cause problems, but it depends on how the loans were consolidated, and what sorts of loans were included. HOWEVER, you may still be eligible for a Borrowers Defense to Repayment Discharge, so I would look into the details of that program and see what you can come up with there. Hi Tim, For some odd reason, the FSA website redirects you to an error message when you actually try to submit an application. They made us buy tons of different software for the Media Arts and Animation classes that they never had us use. I noticed that classes were considered as new to the program. The school offered me some options to continue education but anything can apply to me because I was driving from Naples to Fort Lauderdale ( which is 4 hours daily back and forth to go to school because it was the closest school). Be warned; its not much. This program is for students of schools that closed before they could finish their degree. How can I show proof as I dont have the names of those who lied to me about job placement, wages. Hence, it is advisable not to waste any further time. Scammers frequently attempt to steal money from you and waste your time. Final day of attendance wont apply to BDAR and is only relevant for a Closed School Discharge Application, so youre good no matter when your final day was if youre pursuing the BDAR discharge. Follow the explanations in my Guide on which details to include in your application and you will have the best chance on getting your discharge approved. But before you get too excited, heres the most important part of the Borrowers Defense process: its extremely important that you link your Borrowers Defense claim to the Art Institutes lawsuit and the fraudulent activity that theyve been accused of performing. I only agreed to take out these student loans because I believed the lies/false promises/misleading statements presented to be my the school.Thank you for your time and reviewing my application for Borrowers Defense against repayment. I then explained to Rudy Diaz who was the last person I spoke too that I would seek legal representation cause the situation was completely unprofessional and above all illegal. This document summarizes government actions against predatory colleges, providing links to the government actions. I took 2 quarters off. The case also names its parent company, Education Management Corporation (EDMC), the largest provider of postsecondary education in the US. The Art Institutes - Wikipedia They NEVER told us that once you are 24 you are no longer eligible for that type of loan. My daughter is eligible to apply for this. Did you experience any of their marketing or advertising campaigns which made false promises, talked about graduation rates, job-placement rates, or accreditation for licensure that wasnt actually true? We also still arent entirely certain what President Donald Trumps Student Loan Plan is going to look like, but he could try to pull the plug on this program too. I was harrased by AIA in 2011 for the outstanding amount I owed directly to them and I paid that off in a little over 18 months. This means that theres a very good possibility that you can qualify for some of that $200 million settlement to get rid of the student loans you took out in order to attend the school. Other During the course of time, I was also in a car accident, and this made it difficult to find work. Unfortunately, the rules are the rules, and they leave a lot of people, like yourself, hung out to dry. The information is a bit hazy and I dont think I have evidence of their propaganda. EDMCs parent is also named in the suit. Sounds like a scam to me. Look at the versions of their site from around when you were first considering applying there. This is a precedent for any future lawsuits. This means that EDMC is liable for false statements made by the Art Institute and its executives. However, an applicant can wait an entire year for the application to be processed. Thanks for all your help, we really appreciate it! They lied all the way to the end and its against the Educational Law. Plus cant get into another school because this school messed up with my Pell and Financial Aid too. I called AI and was told I had a $3000 balance on my account and thats why it was being withheld. To avoid paying taxes on your student loan forgiveness income, follow these steps. The Art Institutes accreditation was revoked by the United States Department of Education in September 2016. See my page on Parent PLUS Loan Forgiveness for details there, and for your Private loans, there is no option for BDAR. Falsely claimed that certain programs had the accreditation necessary for licensure. I would apply to it because it sounds like you have a shot there. How buying the Art Institutes brought Dream Center to the brink of Unfortunately, its extremely difficult to get a refund, especially if the money was paid in cash instead of via student loans. Are you going after that, or are you pursuing a Borrowers Defense to Repayment Discharge? You can apply to have your student loan discharged via the Closed School Loan Discharge Program by going to this website. Very hard to get job interviews. Theres tons of help by fellow victims. My husband and I took our Parent Plus Loans for my daughter back in 2011 so she could attend The Art Institute in Tampa. SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Accusations of altering documents to receive federal money. The Federal Government wont help anyone who has defaulted on their loans. Read my post again, it details EXACTLY what you need to do. Forbearance will continue until the borrower defense review process of your application is completed. The school has also closed now too, so itd pretty difficult to access your old transcripts, but you SHOULD still be able to source them somehow. Deployed high-pressure sales tactics to get students who would have otherwise chosen a different school, Made false claims concerning the accreditations of certain programs. In hindsight, I figured out that it was likely due to the fact that they would have made less money off of me if I went into game programming; they only offered an Associates for that at the time I attended; but if they kept me there for longer to get a Bachelors they would have me up to my arse in debt. If youve graduated, then you will NOT be eligible for a Closed School Loan Discharge. Once I graduated and tried to use my degree I came to find out that it is not taken seriously as a degree once you apply for work or even try to transfer school credits to another college. That would be me. I would like to have someone professional help me in filing these correctly and efficiently. If possible please let me know where I can find the actual court documents against The Art Institute of Chicago so I can attach them to my case. Would this also be under a school closing type of form? Red flag #1 was when I was signing up for financial aid, the financial counselor was pushing for my mom to sign a parent plus loan. Art Institute Lawsuit Documents - elizamakaira.com Therefore, youll need to choose the student loan forgiveness program that gives you the best chance of actually getting rid of your loans. Its hard to say, as Ive heard from people waiting a year or even two years before hearing back. in 1992 to 1994. Im not sure I have much more physical evidence of that conversation aside from the wayback machine screenshots where they describe the graduation rate and the average salary that graduates make. Misrepresented both their graduation and their job-placement rates. False promises and false advertising are typically the best claims for a BDAR discharge. Be sure to include everything in your application, and go into detail about it. Message. Therefore, assuming that you qualify for both I would suggest going with the Closed School Loan Discharge Program because the applications to the Borrowers Defense program are taking such a long time to process. I transferred to Ai in January of 2018 when the school was purchased by DCEH with the knowledge that I would receive my bachelors now if they made that promise enrolled me knowing that they were going to shut down and cause me and my family hardships due to the closer. That sounds super handy! Both programs discharge your outstanding student loan debt and both may refund you the money you already paid toward the balance of your loan, but if I had to pick one, Id recommend going with the Closed School Discharge since its probably a faster turnaround time to approval.. For further clarification on the misconducts of the Art Institutes, be sure to read our post on the Art Institute lawsuits in 2019. Like the Art Institute, the closure of these institutes means enrolled students who took student loans are eligible for loan forgiveness. You didnt give me any info to help me decide either way. All of these companies are accused of breaching their agreements. Good luck! I have brief emails from the Assistant admissions director when we first set up the information meeting and can also provide her name, that is all i really have though. In order to do that, you will need to add details about the lawsuit into your Borrowers Defense application, including monetary settlement figures and links to reputable sources containing information about the lawsuit and settlement they agreed to. Here are straight guideline from the Borrower Defense program application: If you are not currently in default on your federal student loans, you may request to have them placed into forbearance status while your application is under review. You might be! My loans were a little higher than $50,000. It would be impossible to name them. I attended The Art Institute in Los Angeles, graduated 2009. I have never been able to give anyone a straight answer on how to tackle them, because DOE offers conflicting advice about them and they operate so strangely. She assured me a loan would not be taken out in my name. Download the application form, fill it out, and submit it to your loan servicer. They are giving me the run around. The Art Institute is a For Profit College with unfair deceptive practices. I attended the Art Institute if Cali-LA, the campus is now closed. Anyway, thanks again for all the information you provided and your responses to those who submitted questions and comments. I never even felt comfortable enough with what they taught me to ever go for a position in that field as close as I got was a waitress I didnt feel they taught me anything other than reading and following a recipe in a book! If you were really told that all of the students get jobs paying over $30,000, then you will DEFINITELY get approval for a BDAR Discharge. I just paid off my loan for The Art Institute of Los Angeles this year ( I started paying back the $20k in 2002). As the institute faced allegations before, you can prove the wrongdoing relatively easily. Just wondering. We determine the allowance for doubtful accounts by categorizing gross receivables based upon the enrollment status of the student. I am sunk. This is why she cosigned. I have been living in constant depression over the fact that my loans are increasing and over a worthless degree with zero skills to get a job that can pay for such high fees. I can however request a transcript that shows that the program was not accredited. No, you should definitely pursue the BDAR Discharge. Remember, you are building your case here so take your time and think it through before you even start writing about what happened and how it influenced you. The AI of Seattle closed 4 years ago in a scramble. My opinion is that filing for bankruptcy is the easiest way to wipe out private loans, but as we all know how difficult that is, theres truly no silver bullet here. You can reach them at 1-877-317-0455. Make sure that you do it at the US governments official website set up for this purpose, or you may be falling for one of the popular Student Loan Forgiveness Scams floating around. This suit was filed against the company's parent, Education Management Corporation. All rights reserved. Hi Tim, The information you have provided is priceless. To get help with other student loan issues, be sure to check out some of the other pages of my site, where I cover both Private and Federal student loans in detail. I was paying all my education out of packets with my family saving ( I paid over $15000). The art institute has been hit hard by a lawsuit filed against it by students and parents who lost money due to their hefty tuition fees. . That sounds ridiculous. She sued The Art Institute of Houston, Inc. for fraud and breach of contract. Is there anything that I can do? My son attended the Art Institute of Dallas at a time when it wasnt an academically accredited institution which they lied about. Yeah, so, I dont comment on individual companies. I am helping a friend whos student loan is currently in default. You will still have a chance to repay your student loan if the government provides assistance. For your Private loan, I would recommend contacting McCarthy Law PLC, a group of attorneys who specialize in handling private student debt. How do I join the lawsuit? There are a lot of scammers out there who will make all sorts of wild promises to you. It was a misleading processes with all of the financial aid, a lot of oh you only need to take this small loan out then quickly went to a bigger loan is necessary then to the your parents need to take a parent plus loan to help cover your school. Will I be able to even though I graduated in September? I am not a representative of the US government or the US Department of Education. If you have any insight as to how I can describe this in my claim I would greatly appreciate it. Quit school. That piece about the high graduation and placement rates is going to be the key to your successful BDAR application. Nice job doing the legwork required to gather good evidence. Is my fate doomed to filing for IDR repayment plans until the end of time or is there a chance at BDtoRD? Remember, every student loan servicer may have their procedures in place for working on yourClosed School Dischargeapplication. However, the institute has denied wrongdoing and will likely settle with its students. Period. I questioned that at a college or University you could fail classes and still graduate as long as met the credit requirements for graduating so what was the difference? I attended the Art Institute of Fort Worth in 2011 and in 2013 they told everyone in my Interior Design program, the program will be getting shut down because there were not enough students in the program and the only options we had were to 1. transfer to another art institute 2. And can you explain how it impacted your decision to borrow money to attend the school? I had to explain to multiple representatives that I had absolutely no balance left if I did have one I would not have been able to graduate that the $3000 balance was part of the poster competition that I won and was granted before attending. Hi, My son son attended the Art Instiute of Charlotte, and has closed. The suit claimed that the Art Institute misrepresented the benefits of its educational programs and overstated their graduation and job placement rates. I also wanted to add that I did file for bankruptcy almost 10 years ago and that did not apply to those loans as the lawyer said they were not eligible through Sallie Mae. All we want is for these loans to disappear. similar stories to everyone here. Hence, we have simplified the information so you know what to look out for and determine if you can benefit from theart institute loan forgiveness program. I dont really know what youre accusing them of having done wrong, and it definitely doesnt sound like they did anything illegal, so I would not submit this claim as-is. The school never applied for accreditation as promised, therefore I was not eligible to work for the government or compete for decent paying jobs. Your email address will not be published. I am currently in the process of filing for borrowers defense. Ive attended two different campuses within the Art Institute network (transferred from one to the other) and have had to take multiple Parent Plus loans as well as additional federal grants and loans to attend both schools. I never finished the degree due to several deaths in the immediate family and the loans are now about 10 years old. I look at both schools and find out only the online will take all credits. The Art Institute of California - San Diego, a campus of Argosy University - Academic Catalog; The Art Institute of California - San Francisco, a campus of Argosy University; The Art Institute of CaliforniaSilicon Valley, a campus of Argosy University; The Art Institute of Charleston, a branch of The Art Institute of Atlanta I attended the art institute from 4/09-3/11. At the time I was commuting from Connecticut to NYC and had arrived late to the same class more than once and later was advised and convinced to take out a loan ($12,000) to live in student housing which was only about 20 mins away in Brooklyn. I tried filling out the BDAR application but apparently its not available at this time? PHILADELPHIA; THE ART INSTITUTE ) OF PHOENIX; THE ART INSTITUTE OF ) . Im removing your phone number from this comment for privacy purposes. Im retired and disable and they sent me a letter today to garnish my Social Security benefits. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges that the school promised her a job in the fashion industry after she graduated, but she was unable to find work in that field. More Students Who Went To The Art Institute Of Colorado Will Get Their 2014. I am stuck in tying the lawsuit on AI to the BDAR. Has this worked with Academy of Art? EDMCs revoked the Art Institutes accreditation in 2016, so the lawsuit named three executives of EDMC. After years of not being able to find employment, I had to go back to school and re-enroll at a state university where I finally graduated with a degree in communications. I eventually went back. Art Institute scammed all the way till the end I want results. Information for Former Corinthian Colleges Students | State of Dont believe them! Art Institute students left with questions - wrtv.com Its a huge short-term and long-term savings, and certainly worth exploring. So then I enrolled in San Bernardino Valley college to acquire marketing skills in which The Art Institute failed to teach/provide as part of their program which they cancelled midway for lack of teachers. A class-action lawsuit against the Art Institute can be extremely beneficial to students who have been unable to complete their education. Are your loans Federal or Private? Had I not been exposed to these misleading and false statements, I never would have agreed to borrow money to attend their program. If it doesnt, youll want to move on to looking at my Guides on Federal Student Loan Defaults and the Federal Student Loan Rehabilitation Program. Education Dept. If you just say that you couldnt afford it, youre sure to be denied. I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The plaintiff will only lose if the defendant fails to comply with the laws of . Thats hard to say. If you attended an Art-related college or university and are now facing this situation, it is important to seek legal help as soon as possible. Thank you very much for the wealth of information that you have provided to us concerning the Art Institutes. I was in an even worse situation and I still suffer from that accident today.