Students of Former Braintree For-Profit School Eligible for Debt Relief

BRAINTREE, MA — Over 4,500 students of a now-defunct for-profit school that had a location in Braintree will have their federal student loans forgiven by the U.S. Department of Education, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Friday.

According to the announcement, students who attended classes at the ACI's locations in Braintree, Cambridge, Framingham, Springfield, and Woburn will have their loans discharged. The combined borrower loan discharges for ACI students announced today will total about $30 million, according to the AG's office.

The announcement marks the first time the Department has granted a state attorney general’s application to cancel loans for a group of defrauded students.

“ACI was a predatory, for-profit school that admitted to breaking Massachusetts law and lying to its students. Today, these students are finally getting the relief they deserve,” Healey said in a statement. “I thank Secretary King and the Department for utilizing its authority to grant immediate group relief to our students, and the dedicated lawyers and investigators in my office for building the case against ACI. Our office will continue to help students struggling with unaffordable debt and hold predatory schools accountable for their illegal conduct.”

In June, the institute admitted to lying to students and falsifying documents, acknowledging that they "knowingly overstating the employment prospects for its graduates; falsifying student signatures, enrollment records, attendance, and grades; and using unlicensed instructors, inadequate books and instructional materials, valueless externships and providing no meaningful career placement services."

The schools closed abruptly in 2013.

Joe Lipovich contributed to this report.

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