The University of Phoenix, one of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains, agreed to a $191 million settlement on Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the school had lured in students with fraudulent claims about partnerships with major companies that one of the chain’s own executives had described as “smoke and mirrors.”
It will pay a $50 million penalty to the F.T.C. and cancel $141 million in debts, largely for unpaid tuition and fees, owed by former students who first registered during that four-year period. Tens of thousands of students will be covered, most likely for relatively modest sums.
The UOP will contact you directly if your loan is being canceled.
- The settlement only applies to loans directly with the school
- Private or federal loans are not covered by the settlement and must be paid
- The settlement requires the UOP to ask consumer reporting agencies to delete the debts from people’s credit reports, give notice to those who got debt cancellation, and make sure people have access to their diplomas and transcripts