News Clips

Over the past decade, a number of for-profit schools have shut down over accusations of misleading students and leading them to take on more debt than they can pay off. A recent report found those schools target minority communities that were already disproportionately burdened by student debt.

Despite pushes to address predatory practices—such as the withholding of Title IV federal financial aid—for-profit institutions are continuing to target communities of color through recruitment and location strategies, according to a new Student Borrower Protection Center report.

Those borrowers now have more rights under a law that went into effect this year and gained teeth this month with a new ombudsman’s office empowered to review complaints about student loan providers.

In April, consumer groups led by the Student Borrower Protection Center urged the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to scrutinize the first-of-its-kind arrangement between Blue Ridge Bank of Martinsville in Virginia and MentorWorks Education Capital. The bank funds financing packages developed by MentorWorks, a fintech firm, which students repay with a portion their income after entering the workforce.