Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The CFPB today took action against for-profit college chain Bridgepoint Education, Inc. for deceiving students into taking out private student loans that cost more than advertised. The Bureau is ordering Bridgepoint to discharge all outstanding private loans the institution made to its students and to refund loan payments already made by borrowers. Loan forgiveness and refunds and will total over $23.5 million in automatic consumer relief. Bridgepoint must also pay an $8 million civil penalty to the Bureau.
Bridgepoint must require all entering students, and current students who start different programs, to use a newly created financial aid disclosure tool when they borrow money to pay for school. Students will use the new tool to access personalized financial aid offer information as well as information about graduation and loan default rates, potential salaries for their programs, and post-graduation budgeting. The tool was developed by the CFPB and builds on the agency’s Paying for College tools that aims to help consumers find the student loan option that best fits their needs.