Sale of More Than 50 Everest and WyoTech Campuses Announced; $480M Secured for Student Debts

If you are a Corinthian student or a Genesis Loan holder, find out how this sale will affect you.

Today, Education Credit Management Corporation and Corinthian Colleges, Inc. announced an initial closing on the sale of more than 50 Everest and WyoTech campuses. In conjunction, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the U.S. Department of Education announced more than $480 million in forgiveness for borrowers who took out Corinthian College’s high-cost private student loans.

Higher Ed, Not Debt Campaign Manager Maggie Thompson released the following statement in response:

“It is clear that ECMC and the Department of Education responded to students’ call to improve the terms of the sale. We are pleased that the CFPB secured $480 million in debt forgiveness for students that were victims of Corinthian, but disappointed that ECMC insisted on banning students’ rights to class action. As Zenith takes the helm of 50 failing schools, we will continue to work with students to ensure that ECMC puts them first.

The fact remains that thousands of students were left worse off by Corinthian Colleges, just one of many for-profit colleges that drain education funding and take advantage of students’ aspirations. The Higher Ed, Not Debt campaign is committed to pursuing similar debt forgiveness and protections for students at all for-profit schools.”

Higher Ed, Not Debt’s For-Profit Campaign has worked to raise the voices of current and former Corinthian College students during the negotiated sale of Corinthian to Education Credit Management Corporation. The campaign connected with more than 4,000 Corinthian students, the majority of whom shared a story of their experience at Corinthian. We used these stories to advocate that the sale to ECMC include relief for former students harmed by Corinthian and safeguards to prevent future abuse.

Last week HEND met with education staffers for senators from states that have Corinthian campuses that are included in the sale to ECMC. We provided staffers with a review of HEND’s earned media, shared student stories from the state, and reviewed the following timeline of HEND activity:

In September, CorinthianShutdown.org launched with nearly 2,000 petition signers in the first week. The petition now totals over 4,000.
November 20^th, HEND met with the Department of Education to communicate the concerns raised by student stories.
December 17^th, HEND launched a Day of Action to oppose the sale to ECMC as structured. The campaign sent letters to six governors in key states about the sale (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Washington), contacted Corinthian students and encouraged them to file a formal complaint, signed a letter with 50 other organizations outlining opposition to the ECMC sale, and organized a petition delivery at ECMC headquarters in Oakdale, MN.
January 16^th, HEND sent a new letter to an additional five governors in Georgia, New York, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, asking for the state’s accrediting board to only approve a sale that provides relief for former students and establishes safeguards for future students.

Additionally, HEND sent an action email to student borrowers on January 27^th urging them to contact their federal representatives. In less than two days, over 1,000 people took action resulting in approximately 3,000 emails to Congress.

We have just launched SellingOutStudents.org, an online platform where students from other schools can sign a petition and share a story about their experiences.

See what news outlets and our partners are saying about this:

Generation Progress
Young Invincibles

HEND’s statement on the deal was quoted in:

Other articles on Higher Ed, Not Debt’s advocacy have appeared in:

Business Week: “Activist Fight Merger of Two Companies Accused of Preying on Students”
BuzzFeed News: “In Battle Against For-Profit College Sale, Activist Turn to the States”
PoliticoPro: “Thousands of Corinthian students sign petition demanding loan forgiveness”
Seattle Times: “Critics Appeal to Inslee for Probe of 6 For-Profit Colleges”
Los Angeles Times: “Future uncertain for students caught up in Corinthian’s collapse”
Huffington Post: “US-Brokered Bailout of For-Profit Colleges Treats Students like ‘Financial Assets’”