Students from all of ITT Tech’s 136 locations were left without a school due to its bankruptcy and subsequent closure in September of 2016. If you are one of those students, what will you do about your outstanding student loan debt? Here is vital information about your debt options in the event your college goes out of business. If you have other inquiries about student loan debt, the skilled attorneys at McIntyre Thanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito, P.A. are equipped to answer your questions and concerns.
Closed School Loan Discharge
One option is to apply for a Closed School Loan Discharge which, if granted, would release you from your student loan debt and reimburse you for what you have already paid toward the loan. This option is applicable to federal direct loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), or Federal Perkins Loans, but comes with specific eligibility criteria. A key date to note is May 6, 2016 which is 120 days prior to ITT Tech’s closing on September 6. This is the earliest date that you could have withdrawn from ITT Tech in order to be eligible for a Closed School Loan Discharge. If you were enrolled at the time of its closure, or withdrew on or after May 6, 2016, and did not complete the program for which you received federal loans or any kind of loans till payday, you may apply for 100% loan forgiveness if you aren’t transferring credits to another school for a similar program. If you were enrolled but on approved leave of absence during this time period, you would be considered eligible for this loan forgiveness option. Apply by filling out the Closed School Loan Discharge Application and submitting it to your loan servicer. You should continue to pay back your loans until you receive determination of whether or not your discharge has been granted or denied. For private loans, you must contact your loan servicer to learn of the options you have with them.
Transfer Schools
If you are interested in pursuing your education at a school that offers a comparable program to that which you were enrolled in at ITT Tech, you should discuss transferring with an advisor at your school of interest. Advisors will assess your coursework for the possibility of transferring credits and keeping you on your projected track of your educational goals. If you pursue a similar program with credits transferred from ITT Tech, you would not be eligible to apply for loan forgiveness through the Closed School Loan Discharge. However, if you transfer to a school to pursue a completely unrelated program than what you were enrolled in at ITT Tech, you may eligible for the Closed School Loan Discharge, provided you meet all of the other conditions.
Unexpectedly halting your education due to a school closure while saddled with student loan debt can be a major setback for your future plans. For a detailed review of your situation, contact a student loan debt relief attorney at McIntyre Thanasides who can review your options and help move you forward. Call us at 1-844-511-4800.
