How Can to Apply for a CTU Student Loan Discharge or Refund

Here’s some more good news! If you attended the Colorado Technical Institute (CTU), then you may be eligible for a student loan discharge, or even a full refund, thanks to a lawsuit that 49 States Attorney Generals just settled with their parent company, the Career Education Corporation.

Per the terms of the Career Education Corporation lawsuit settlement, released on January 3rd, 2019, CEC is going to have to forgive almost $500,000,000 in outstanding student loans for students of Colorado Technical Institute, Le Cordon Bleu, and AmericanIntercontinental University, three schools owned and operated by CEC.

Forgiveness benefits are being made available to 179,000 borrowers who got loans directly from CEC (these are called “Institutional Student Loans”), and the reason for the lawsuit is that CEC was proven to have offered misleading information and statements to students in order to convince them to enroll at the affected schools.

Basically, CEC admitted that they provided false job placement rates and inflated average incomes of their graduates, data which convinced students that attending the schools would be worth their while, and which amounted to false advertising, or outright fraud.



What are the Settlement Terms of the Lawsuit?

Not only has Career Education Corporation been ordered to stop attempting to collect on debt from Colorado Technical Institute students, but it’s also been ordered to contact the Credit Bureaus and request that they remove the debts from borrower’s credit reports.

That means that if you owe money to CEC over a CTU student loan, it’s not only going to evaporate, but your credit report will also significantly improve, since the debt will be removed entirely, and any dings you might have experienced in the past will be wiped out entirely!

Colorado Technical Institute is not closing down, but they are going to be forced to offer much clearer information to future students, including the requirement of providing all applicants with a one-page document that clearly details several important pieces of information.

First, the school must explain it’s job placement rates, then it must clearly indicate estimated total costs of the educational program the applicant is interested in, and finally, it’ll have to show the average earnings of graduates from that program, giving potential students a much better idea of the value of their degree programs.


Get Help With Your Loans!

If you're truly struggling with student loan debt, then you should consider paying a Student Loan Debt Relief Agency for help. Why? Because the people working at these companies deal with student loans all day, every day, and they're your best chance at figuring out how to get your loans back under control.

For help with Federal Student Loans call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 1-888-906-3065. They will review your case, evaluate your options for switching repayment plans, consolidating your loans, or pursuing forgiveness benefits, then set you up to get rid of the debt as quickly as possible.

For help with Private Student Loans call McCarthy Law PLC at 1-877-317-0455. McCarthy Law will negotiate with your lender to settle your private loans for much less than you currently owe (typically 40%), then get you a new loan for the lower, settled amount so you can pay off the old loan, repair your credit and reduce your monthly payments.

I've spent 10 years interviewing debt relief agencies, talking to all sorts of "experts", and these are the only two companies that I trust to help my readers. If you have a bad experience with either of them, please make sure to come back and let me know about it in the Comments!


How Does This Settlement Fit Into the Bigger Picture?

I think this is a huge step in the right direction for regulating for-profit schools preying on young, innocent Americans, and I think it’ll be a huge help in turning the student loan debt crisis around, which has saddled generations of students with inescapable debt!

One important thing to note about the lawsuit settlement terms is that it does NOT cover Federal Student Loans, or loans provided by other Private Lenders, so you’ll only be eligible for the benefit if you have loans directly from Career Education Corporation itself.

Finally, borrowers from California and New York are not covered under this settlement either, as CA is seeking it’s own settlement with the company, and NY already settled a separate deal with them.

Nobody knows when the debt relief will actually be offered, if refunds will be provided, or how all of this will play out, as details have not yet been released, but I will update this page as soon as more information is available, so be sure to check back regularly for updates!


What if I Have Federal Student Loans from CTU?

If your Colorado Technical Institute loans are Federally-based, then the good news is that you’ve got an incredible opportunity to get them discharged via the Borrower’s Defense to Repayment Program.

This is a program that allows you to wipe out Federal loans if you can prove that they were only taken out because the school committed fraud against you, and it’s a very powerful way to eliminate your student loans without having to pay a single cent.

The best thing about this CTU lawsuit settlement is that CTU has basically admitted to committing several types of fraud, which you can use as evidence in your BDAR claim against them, including lying about job placement rates, average incomes of graduates, and basically the value of their education programs.

These lies amount to fraud in the form of false advertising, and you can use list these in your BDAR discharge application as the reasons for why you deserve to have a Borrower’s Defense Discharge approved.

The process for filing a BDAR discharge application is pretty straightforward, and you can read all about it in my Guide to the Borrower’s Defense to Repayment Program here.


What if I Have Debt From Other Schools?

If you’ve got student loan debt from other schools, then don’t give up quite yet, because I’ve got all sorts of other Guides created to help you eliminate or at least reduce the amount you owe!

First, and most important, is to determine whether you need Federal Student Loan Relief or Private Student Loan Relief, because the options available are dramatically different, and much better for Federal loan holders.

Next, if you have Federal loans, you’ll want to review my website’s Guides on the following topics:



And if you have Private loans, then you’ll want to check out my Guides on:

You’re almost certain to qualify for one of the programs mentioned above, basically no matter who you are, who you owe, or what you do for a living.

Keep in mind though that I’m just one person covering the topic, and that there may be other options available as well, so don’t be afraid to Google for specific programs related to your school, your servicer, or your job, as these are typically the things that qualify people for debt relief.



Where Can I Ask Other Questions?

Please feel free to leave a question in the Comments section at the bottom of this page, as I do my best to respond to everyone within 24 hours.

Just be sure to tell me what types of loans you’ve got (Federal or Private), as that is most important in determining which benefits you’ll have access to!

Please Help Support My Site

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If this information helped you, please consider sharing the page on Facebook, Twitter or Reddit, or even emailing it to your friends, family or coworkers who need help with their own loans.

The more people who visit the site, the more time I can allocate toward developing in-depth guides like this one, and the more people we can collectively help get out of student loan debt!

Thank you for visiting Forget Student Loan Debt, and please make sure to come back soon to check for updates, as I will update this Guide as soon as more information is released.


Disclaimer:Information obtained from Forget Student Loan Debt is for educational purposes only. You should consult a licensed financial professional before making any financial decisions. This site receives some compensation through affiliate relationships. This site is not endorsed or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.

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Tim's experience struggling with crushing student loan debt led him to create the website Forget Student Loan Debt in 2011, where he offers advice, tips and tricks for paying off student loans as quickly and affordably as possible.