On February, 4 the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced $480 million in debt forgiveness for current and former Corinthian Colleges Inc. students as part of the sale of 50 Corinthian campuses to Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC).

It’s a victory for Corinthian students and shows the value of standing together for quality education.

In June, Corinthian Colleges Inc. was put on heightened financial oversight by the Dept. of Education and agreed to sell or close all of its campuses. Since the announcement of the sale, SEIU members, along with coalition partners, have advocated that federal regulators provide debt relief for students who have been harmed by Corinthian’s practices.

As part of this effort SEIU launched CorinthianShutdown.org in September and collected over 2,000 signatures from current and former Corinthian students. Thousands more signed a petition demanding that Corinthian students deserved a full refund. On December 17, 2014 SEIU members participated in a “Day of Action” to oppose the sale of Corinthian to ECMC. As part of that day SEIU Local 284 members organized an action to deliver our petition to ECMC headquarters in Oakdale, MN.

But ECMC isn’t off the hook. Companies like Corinthian shouldn’t be allowed to take advantage of American students and prioritize their own profit over student success.

As the deal precedes we will closely monitor the actions of ECMC in order endure it abides by the extensive promises the company has made.

We are committed to holding all for-profit colleges accountable. Make sure to check out a new website SellingOutStudents.org, where you can tell the Department of Education to hold For-Profit Colleges accountable and not to sell out students!