Idaho students will receive $850,000 in settlement with higher ed vendor

Nearly 400 Idahoans will receive more than $850,000 in debt relief, under a settlement with a for-profit online higher education vendor.

Idaho is a party to a 49-state settlement with Career Education Corp., a Schaumberg, Ill.-based vendor that has closed or phased out several schools over the past decade.

A group of state attorneys general said CEC made misleading statements about its course offerings, costs, transferability of credits and job placement rates.

“For years, this company was less than honest with students and prospective students about the costs and other important aspects of their higher education,” Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a news release Thursday. “Doing away with these debts is the right thing to do.”

According to estimates from Wasden’s office, 388 Idaho students will receive $862,562 in debt relief.

Idaho will also receive $75,000 from the settlement, which will go into its Consumer Protection Fund.

Nationally, more than 179,000 students will receive $493.7 million in debt relief.

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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