The Borrower Stories Behind Sweet v Cardona | Student Loan Truth
The Sweet v. Cardona class of over 260,000 defrauded student borrowers has fought long and hard for justice since this lawsuit was filed over three years ago. It has been a borrower-driven case from the start, as many of these borrowers have been waiting over seven years for relief. This proposed settlement agreement would be life-changing for so many borrowers and their families, and without their perseverance we wouldn’t be where we are today.
On November 9th, a few of these borrowers had the chance to attend the hearing for final settlement approval in person, with 1,000 of their fellow class members listening over Zoom. During the hearing, Judge Alsup heard from named plaintiff, Theresa Sweet, as she recounted her journey fighting for relief. And while Theresa was the only class member to speak at the hearing, others were there in solidarity and ready to share their stories if given the chance. As we await the Court’s decision, expected to come within a week of the hearing, here are three class members’ stories.
Theresa Sweet, named plaintiff
In the nearly two decades since I graduated from the now shuttered Brooks Institute, I have been fighting for some measure of justice for the education fraud that I, and thousands of others experienced.
For more than a decade, I approached hundreds of attorneys, and had door after door slammed in my face. Many times, these attorneys told me that they knew I had a case, but they were unwilling to go up against the massive corporation that owned my school.
When Borrower Defense was seemingly resurrected from the minutiae of Education regulations, I knew that it was probably our only chance to end this nightmare.
When it became clear that Betsy DeVos would be appointed Secretary of Education, that sense of hope immediately transformed into a sense of absolute dread.
Sure enough, she surrounded herself with for-profit education cronies and did her level best to rob us of justice, going so far as to negotiate in bad faith a settlement in the case that bears my name. Seemingly without conscience, she denied us our right to due process.
Too often in this country, regular people can only sit on the sidelines and watch in horror as our rights are trampled by corporations with big pockets, and shifty government officials with dollar signs in their eyes.
These companies, such as those trying to intervene in this settlement, aren't truly afraid for their rights, they are afraid that WE finally have a seat at the table.
Approval of this settlement would serve to show that it is possible for us to fight back - that we can hold government agencies accountable and that PEOPLE are more important than greedy corporations.
Evelyn Cervantes
These loans have tied a noose around the necks of black, brown, and impoverished communities. It's an example of one more way the US government has failed to protect its most vulnerable.
It’s been over 7 years of fighting, and after all this time I still keep asking myself: Where does justice come from?
I see my 7 year old child, asking me to play with her and wonder what a world without my debt would give to her.
I see my dad, a native of Mexico, writhing in pain from working so many years to achieve the American dream and I wonder what a world where his daughter can tend to his wounds would look like.
I see my partner, a native to Central America, struggling to make it through the work day and I wonder what it would be like to make it home to a wife who can comfort them. Not worried about the mounting bills or the looming fraudulent loan repayment of almost a hundred thousand dollars.
I look out to my community and wonder how much more I could give if I wasn’t carrying all of this worry, shame, and debt.
This decision impacts the generations before me and it impacts generations after me. It impacts what we can give back to our people and our lands. And maybe that was the point all along.
So I ask again, where does justice come from? And I look to you and those watching and the only thing I can say is that – It comes from you.
You can choose to listen to the voices of the harmed.
Tarah Gramza
My name is Tarah. I, like every one of the approximately 293k class members, attended a fraudulent for-profit school called American Intercontinental University owned by Career Education Corporation. I was manipulated, pressured, and lied to about the quality of the education I was to receive and in exchange, I was given a lifetime of crushing debt and a degree that doesn’t meet employer qualifications.
I have spent the last 2 years running a Facebook group for students who attended a laundry list of fraudulent schools. After a while, you start to see the common business plan that they all used. That list includes but isn't limited to: misrepresentation of education, misleading targeted marketing, aggressive and deceptive recruitment tactics, cost of attendance, employability, and omission of fact.
All we asked for was that the Department of Education follow the law, give us a fair review, and hold these schools accountable. This settlement unlocks the door and sets a precedent that the Department needs to protect students and hold schools accountable. We live in a country of laws and we can’t let schools or the Department break the law and put profits over people. They need to fulfill their promises and the Department needs to step up and make that happen. We aren’t asking for a free education, we are asking for the Department to make us students whole again.
Check out more student stories here.