Are you a former student of DeVry University — or of any other college — who’s heard from a company that’s promising to get your loans forgiven after you pay them a fee?
We have an important piece of advice: don’t do it. It’s never a good idea to pay an up-front fee for the promise of debt relief. Once you pay, you might not get anything in return. And you might be paying for something you can do yourself for free.
The FTC has been hearing about pitches like these after recently filing a complaint in federal court against DeVry, one of the largest educational services companies in the nation, for misrepresenting the prospects of their graduates to get well-paid jobs in their fields.
So what can you do if you think you might be a candidate for loan forgiveness or are looking for other help with your student loans?
- If you’ve got federal loans, go to the Department of Education’s StudentAid.gov to find out more about applying for forgiveness and cancellation, or other programs like income-driven repayment plans. Information about one kind of loan forgiveness, known as a borrower defense discharge, is available here. Applying for any of these programs is free.
- If you’ve got private loans, try contacting your loan servicer directly to see what options you might have.
