Students of Defunct For-Profit School to See $30 Million in Debt Relief

WOBURN, MA — Thousands of students who attended the now-defunct American Career Institute will have their federal student loans forgiven, announced Attorney General Maura Healey Friday.

Healy announced that nearly 4,500 students who had taken out federal student loans to attend the school will have those loans forgiven. This is the first time that the United States Department of Education has granted a state attorney general’s application to cancel loans for a group of defrauded students, according to Healey.

ACI had career training schools in Braintree, Cambridge, Framingham, Springfield, and Woburn.

“Today’s announcement means 4,500 Massachusetts students who were cheated by this predatory for-profit school will finally see their student debt nightmare come to an end,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement. “AG Healey and I worked hard to secure discharges for these students based on the evidence of illegal fraud her office uncovered, and we’re going to keep fighting for loan cancellations for other defrauded students in Massachusetts and across the country.”

The American Career Institute was located in Braintree, Cambridge, Framingham, Springfield, and Woburn. They suddenly closed in 2013 after being unable to obtain the credit needed to remain open.
Later that year, Healey sued ACI for deceiving students and falsifying documents.

In June, the for-profit school admitted to "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 internships and providing no meaningful career placement services."

“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.

Students looking for more information or assistance should visit the AG’s Student Lending Assistance page or call the Student Loan Assistance Unit Hotline at 1-888-830-6277.

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