
Student Stories
Understanding the human impact of for-profit colleges
For decades, the predatory for-profit college industry has exploited the promise of higher education, at the expense of students who are trying to build a better life.
These are their stories. Read a letter from 5,721 student borrowers who were the victims of fraud and misconduct here sent to members of Congress, the Department of Education, and White House officials on November 22, 2024.








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Amanda Kulka
“A lot of people worked hard, graduated at the top of their class, and were still left in this spot. We were cheated. It destroys your faith in the government and in our system of education and I think it’s important to stand up to that.”
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Brandon and Melissa
"Education shouldn’t be a business. It should be training to help build a life. It should be a chance to grow...We’re working hard everyday and burning out trying to keep our heads above water. We’re succeeding despite our experiences at this school, not because of it."
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Ollie Venezia
"I would want them to understand that we were promised the world and were handed dirt. I wanted to be a productive member of society. I wanted a 401(k), I wanted a career. Instead, I got a bogus degree and a bunch of debt. I was trying to lift myself up by the bootstrap, but I got cement shoes instead, and I’ve been drowning ever since."
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Jen Lezan
"I don’t think a lot of people realize the impact money can have on every aspect of your health – mental health, physical health. When I look at that debt number, it’s incomprehensible. My kids deserve better, and I want them to have that opportunity and go to college, and this would give them a chance to not carry this tremendous debt."
A big thank you to our clients Lennore & Michelle who shared their experiences with #4profit colleges at the Congressional Briefing on Higher ED Accountability this week. Your voices are so important to this conversation. pic.twitter.com/9kahgYGuRo
— Project on Predatory Student Lending (@EdDebtJustice) April 26, 2023
LIVE: We are at Boston City Hall with @CityofBoston and @CivicNation right now for a free student debt clinic! We are thrilled to be joined by so many #borrowers looking to learn more about navigating federal student loans and to offer them individualized support tonight.… pic.twitter.com/3qLuBixMNF
— Project on Predatory Student Lending (@EdDebtJustice) June 26, 2024
For years, #ITT faced allegations of predatory and deceptive tactics, yet regulators allowed them to defraud over 700K who are still paying the price. David Mayfield is one of them. Watch the video to listen to David's ITT story. #negreg pic.twitter.com/GHNNMXrWsi
— Project on Predatory Student Lending (@EdDebtJustice) February 15, 2022
Clients In The News
‘“I hate to think about what it means going forward for other lenders, and also for Navient itself, if they feel like all of a sudden they aren’t accountable to their legal obligations,” said Eileen Connor, president and director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending.”
“The servicer let some borrowers off the hook after a 2022 settlement — but not Amanda Luciano and others who faithfully made their loan payments.”
‘“It’s so draconian,” Connor said of proposals to limit or repeal borrower defense. “It would put student-loan borrowers in a worse place than any other kind of borrower, and it’s such an odd thing to do in the context of a lending program that is both meant to facilitate an educated workforce and populace, but also where the loans are the device of access that we’ve settled on.”’
“The reason the administration wanted the Supreme Court to look at the case is because it’s fundamentally wrong and stripping away a critical protection for students that Congress inarguably authorized,” Eileen Connor, the president of PPSL said in an interview on Friday. “I hope this will be an opportunity to correct the 5th Circuit.”
“The U.S. Supreme Court is set to weigh in on a student loan debt forgiveness policy that allowed the Biden administration to forgive $17 billion, according to Politico.”
“Eileen Connor, president and director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represents borrowers defrauded by their colleges, noted that the first Trump administration processed debt relief approved by the Obama administration.”
“Instead, it fell to the Debt Collective, the Project on Predatory Student Lending, and defrauded students themselves to find eligible borrowers in a piecemeal fashion and organize them to fight for their rights.”
“We don’t think that can be clawed back under the law. We don’t think it should be clawed back, of course, but we’re ready to defend those discharges,” said Eileen Connor, president and director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represents borrowers defrauded by their colleges.
“The past four years have been filled with highs and lows for federal student loan borrowers, as nearly 5 million have benefited from $175 billion in debt cancellation provided by President Joe Biden and others have watched their prospects for relief ensnared by litigation. The next four years could be just as tumultuous with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House.”
“It shouldn’t be part of the legacy of [the Biden] administration that people continue to pay these debts when it’s acknowledged that they’re the product of this consumer fraud,” said Eileen Connor, the director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represents former students of for-profit colleges in court.
The vice president and the U.S. Department of Education must follow through on loan discharges promised to student borrowers, one legal expert argues.