Letter to the Honorable Ted Mitchell, Under Secretary of the Department of Education - Extension of Student Loan Relief for Illinois Students Deceived by the Computer Science Institute
Letter
Dear Under Secretary Mitchell:
I write today to ask the Department of Education (ED) to provide expedited federal student loan relief through a simple attestation form for students of Computer Systems Institute in Illinois.
Computer Systems Institute (CSI), based in Skokie, Illinois, operates locations in Chicago, Gurnee, and Elgin with some 2,600 active students. On February 1, ED announced it had denied CSI's recertification application for continued participation in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs (Title IV) from which the company received $20 million in 2014-15. The Department found that "CSI submitted false job placement data to its accreditor to maintain the accreditation of its schools, and disclosed false job placement data to current and prospective students."
In its letter terminating CSI's participation in Title IV programs, ED cited several specific cases of students being misled by the school in one form or another. In many of these instances, students were lured by false promises of jobs or job placement services that never materialized. In light of this, I applaud the Department for taking action to end this company's access to federal taxpayer funding.
At the same time, the students whose stories were profiled and other CSI students similarly harmed by the company's deception and lies deserve the federal student loan relief that they are entitled to under federal law. The Department should use its specific findings in this case to immediately offer expedited federal student loan relief through Defense to Repayment to students of Computer Systems Institute. I call on the Department to develop a simple attestation form for these students to assert their defense and use all possible means to notify borrowers of their potential eligibility.
Thank you for your continued efforts to safeguard federal student aid programs and to provide relief to borrowers who have been harmed.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator
Source