Biden administration cancels $55.6M in student loan debt

The Biden administration has canceled $55.6 million in student loan debt for victims of a for-profit college fraud, the Department of Education announced Friday.

Why it matters: The Department of Education said it canceled the loan payments for 1,800 borrowers who attended Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty and the Court Reporting Institute.

• The Biden administration has canceled $1.5 billion in debt for nearly 92,000 borrowers who claim they were defrauded, including students from ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges. 

The big picture: A majority of the debt, $53 million, will go toward borrowers who attended Westwood College, which closed in 2015. Another $2.2 million from 200 complaints will go toward students from Marinello and $340,000 in debt was forgiven for 18 borrowers from the Court Reporting Institute.

• The debt is being forgiven under the Borrower Defense to Repayment, a policy that allows students who were defrauded by their college to seek debt relief.

What they're saying: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement that the department will “continue doing its part to review and approve borrower defense claims quickly and fairly so that borrowers receive the relief that they need and deserve.”

• “We also hope these approvals serve as a warning to any institution engaging in similar conduct that this type of misrepresentation is unacceptable,” Cardona said.