Durbin calls for expedited student loan relief for Illinois students deceived by the Computer Science Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Department of Education to provide federal student loan relief to students of Skokie, Illinois based Computer Systems Institute (CSI) which had its participation in the Title IV federal loan program terminated after the Department found the for-profit college was submitting false job placement data.  CSI, which received $20 million in 2014-2015 through the Title IV program, has 2,600 active students at locations in Chicago, Gurnee and Elgin.

“In its letter terminating CSI’s participation in Title IV programs, ED cited several specific cases of students being misled by the school in one form or another.  In many of these instances, students were lured by false promises of jobs or job placement services that never materialized,” wrote Durbin.  “The Department should use its specific findings in this case to immediately offer expedited federal student loan relief through Defense to Repayment to students of Computer Systems Institute.  I call on the Department to develop a simple attestation form for these students to assert their defense and use all possible means to notify borrowers of their potential eligibility.”

Text of today’s letter is below.

Dear Under Secretary Mitchell:

I write today to ask the Department of Education (ED) to provide expedited federal student loan relief through a simple attestation form for students of Computer Systems Institute in Illinois.

Computer Systems Institute (CSI), based in Skokie, Illinois, operates locations in Chicago, Gurnee, and Elgin with some 2,600 active students.  On February 1, ED announced it had denied CSI’s recertification application for continued participation in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs (Title IV) from which the company received $20 million in 2014-15.  The Department found that “CSI submitted false job placement data to its accreditor to maintain the accreditation of its schools, and disclosed false job placement data to current and prospective students.”

In its letter terminating CSI’s participation in Title IV programs, ED cited several specific cases of students being misled by the school in one form or another.  In many of these instances, students were lured by false promises of jobs or job placement services that never materialized.  In light of this, I applaud the Department for taking action to end this company’s access to federal taxpayer funding. 

At the same time, the students whose stories were profiled and other CSI students similarly harmed by the company’s deception and lies deserve the federal student loan relief that they are entitled to under federal law.  The Department should use its specific findings in this case to immediately offer expedited federal student loan relief through Defense to Repayment to students of Computer Systems Institute.  I call on the Department to develop a simple attestation form for these students to assert their defense and use all possible means to notify borrowers of their potential eligibility.

Thank you for your continued efforts to safeguard federal student aid programs and to provide relief to borrowers who have been harmed.

                                                            Sincerely,

                                                            Richard J. Durbin

                                                            United States Senator

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