Warren, Healey Statements on Student Debt Relief for Over 3,500 Massachusetts Student Loan Borrowers Defrauded by Art Institutes

Warren, Healey Statements on Student Debt Relief for Over 3,500 Massachusetts Student Loan Borrowers Defrauded by Art Institutes

Boston, MA - Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey released the following statements regarding the Biden Administration's approval of student loan discharge for 317,000 borrowers who attended The Art Institutes, including over 3,500 borrowers in Massachusetts:

"For years, the Art Institutes and EDMC lied to students. In 2015, I called on the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to hold EDMC accountable for its shady tactics, and since President Joe Biden took office, I have worked relentlessly to deliver student debt relief," said Senator Elizabeth Warren. "Thanks to this action by the Education Department and the work of then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, borrowers defrauded by the Art Institutes and EDMC will have their student debt canceled, saving thousands of Massachusetts borrowers over $80 million dollars in total. It's life-changing relief."

"Millions of students, including thousands of Massachusetts students, were taken advantage of by The Art Institutes and had their financial futures threatened," said Governor Maura Healey. "I'm glad to see the Biden-Harris Administration provide billions of dollars in relief to borrowers and proud of the work of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office that contributed to this result. This will be transformative for these students' lives and benefit our economy as a whole."

This action comes after the U.S. Department of Education found that The Art Institutes and its parent company, Education Management Corporation (EDMC), made pervasive and substantial misrepresentations to prospective students about postgraduation employment rates, salaries, and career services during that time. Then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey played a critical role in this investigation by bringing lawsuits against the Art Institutes and EDMC, as well as by providing evidence to the Department of Education obtained during an investigation into the New England Institute of Art-the Massachusetts Art Institute campus.

Senator Warren has led the fight to cancel student loan debt and hold servicers accountable, including:

• In December 2015, Senator Warren, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) raised concerns about the federal government's settlement with EDMC over illegal recruiting tactics. The senators questioned the settlement's lack of accountability for company executives and inadequate relief for students.
• In April 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released a new report: Servicing Scandals: Student Loan Servicers' Failures During Return to Repayment, which reveals a decades-long pattern of student loan servicer incompetence and misconduct that has affected millions of borrowers nationwide.
• In April 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren led a hearing on student loan servicer Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA) and its failures during borrowers' return to repayment, including MOHELA's mismanagement of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
• In March 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, along with U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and John Larson (D-Conn.), led their colleagues in calling on the Social Security Administration (SSA), the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and the U.S. Department of Education to end the practice of offsetting Social Security benefits to pay off defaulted student loans.
• In February 2024, Senator Warren, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a statement calling for an investigation into student loan mismanagement by MOHELA.
• In January 2024, Senators Warren, Schumer, Sanders, Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), along with Representative Ayanna Pressley, Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Representative Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), and Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), led their colleagues in calling on the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to host a fourth session of the student debt negotiated rulemaking to consider relief for borrowers experiencing financial hardship.
• In December 2023, U.S. Senators Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Ed Markey,, and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) sent follow-up letters to student loan servicers - MOHELA, EdFinancial, Nelnet, and Maximus - raising concerns about borrowers' problems with return to repayment, requesting information about the borrower experience, and pushing back on the servicers' claim that budget shortfalls limit their ability provide quality customer service to millions of borrowers.
• In December 2023, Senators Warren, Schumer, Sanders, Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, urging him to leverage his existing and full authority under the Higher Education Act to provide expanded student debt relief to working and middle-class borrowers.
• In August 2023, Senator Warren, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senators Alex Padilla and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Jim Clyburn, and Frederica Wilson led 79 other lawmakers in a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to swiftly deliver on his promise to deliver student debt cancellation to working and middle class families by early 2024.
• In October 2022, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) visited communities across Massachusetts to celebrate the Biden administration's student debt cancellation plan and help residents sign up for student loan relief.
• In October 2022, Senator Warren called on the Department of Education to hold for-profit colleges executives accountable for scamming students out of a quality education and loading them up with student debt.
• Senator Warren, along with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Senator Brown and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), urged Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to swiftly discharge the loans of borrowers defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges and universities, including those operated by Corinthian College.
• Senator Warren, along with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Representatives Jayapal, Pressley, Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Katie Porter (D-Calif.) led more than 80 colleagues in a bicameral letter to the Department of Education calling for it to release the memo outlining the Biden administration's legal authority to cancel federal student loan debt and immediately cancel up to $50,000 of debt for Federal student loan borrowers.
• Senator Warren, along with Senator Markey and Representative Pressley, released a report that detailed the ongoing failures of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for public servants in Massachusetts.
• In April 2021, Senators Warren and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) led a group of colleagues in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging the Department of Education to take swift action to automatically remove all federally-held student loan borrowers from default.

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