Information for Everest Students

Were you a student at Everest Institute Rochester or another Everest campus?

If so, you may be eligible to have your federal loans canceled.

• The Office of the New York State Attorney General recently sent letters to New Yorkers who attended Everest schools and are eligible to apply for federal student loan discharges.
• These borrowers enrolled in certain programs identified by the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) in the DOE’s investigation of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., the company that operated Everest Institute and other Everest schools.  The DOE found that the company misrepresented job placement rates for these programs.

To obtain a loan discharge, eligible borrowers must submit an application to the DOE.

To Apply:

• Complete and submit the form online at: https://nslds.ed.gov/npas/index.htm
  OR
• Print and mail a copy of the form to: U.S. Department of Education, PO Box 194407, San Francisco, CA 94119.
  OR
• Scan the form and email it to FSAOperations@ed.gov.
• If you have questions, call the DOE at 855-279-6207.

Borrowers are eligible for a loan discharge if they enrolled in the following programs at Everest Institute Rochester:

List of Programs:
 

For a list of programs identified by the DOE at other Everest campuses, visit StudentAid.gov/ev-wy-findings.

Even if the DOE did not include your program on its list, you may still qualify for a discharge if your school made misrepresentations or otherwise violated state law.  If the DOE did not include your program on its list, you can apply for a loan discharge by:

1. filling out this Loan Discharge Form and
2. in the section called “Other Information” provide a detailed account of your allegations of misconduct (you can also attach a separate letter).

For more information, visit StudentAid.gov/corinthian or call the DOE at 855-279-6207.

You can request a forbearance while your application is being processed.

• If you are an Everest student with Direct Loans (or both Direct and FFEL Loans) and you apply for a discharge based on school misconduct, or if you plan to apply in the next year, you may request that your servicer or debt collector grant a forbearance to stop all debt collection, including wage garnishments, for a 12-month period.  During this period, you will not be required to make payments. 
• To request a forbearance, call the DOE at 855-279-6207.
• Your servicer will notify you when your loan has been placed into forbearance. Until you receive that notice, continue to make payments.
• For more information on forbearance, visit Forbearance Information.

Closed School Discharges

• If you were enrolled at Everest Institute Rochester or another Everest school when it closed in April 2015, or if you withdrew after June 20, 2014, you may qualify for a Closed School Discharge.
• Students are not eligible if they transferred credits and completed a comparable program at another school.  However, such students may be eligible for a loan discharge based on school misconduct.  See information on above for instructions on how to apply for a discharge based on school misconduct.
• To obtain a Closed School Discharge, submit the Closed School Discharge Application to your loan servicer.  To find your loan servicer, log in to “My Federal Student Aid” or call 1-800-4-FED-AID. 
• For more information, visit Closed School Discharge Information.

Private Student Loans

Many Everest borrowers also took out private student loans, usually called “Genesis” loans.  If you received a Genesis loan, you may be covered by a settlement agreement obtained by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”).  This settlement provided that:

• Genesis loan borrowers will receive a 40% reduction on principal balances.
• Such borrowers cannot be sued or threatened with legal action if they fail to repay their Genesis loans.
• All current negative information concerning Genesis loans will be deleted from borrowers’ credit histories.  (However, negative information may be reported to credit reporting agencies if borrowers fail to make future payments.)
• You should have received a letter in March 2015 if your loan was included in the settlement. 
• If you are not sure if your loan was included in the settlement, you can find out by asking your current Genesis loan servicer.  If your servicer will not provide that information, you can file a complaint with the CFPB.