California Assembly proposes financial relief for Corinthian students

The abrupt closure of the troubled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges this past weekend left thousands of California students stranded in their educational pursuits, but a new Assembly bill aims to get them back on track.

The proposal, unveiled Thursday by a bipartisan group of 25 Assembly members, would provide financial relief and legal aid to students displaced by the shutdown of 23 California campuses owned by Corinthian. In addition to offering tuition recovery and assistance for those seeking loan forgiveness, the bill would waive community college fees for transferring students and restore their Cal Grant financial aid eligibility.

The majority of the cost would be covered by the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, a special fee assessed on tuition at for-profit schools to provide financial assistance to students when their institutions close.

“The legislation we are advancing will ensure that students harmed by the closure of Corinthian and other high-risk, for-profit colleges will not be held responsible for the sharp practices and bad decisions of others,” Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said in a statement.

Corinthian’s closure came less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Education fined the Santa Ana-based company $30 million for misrepresenting its job placement numbers. Former students who did not complete their degrees now face a difficult choice between discharging their federal loans and transferring their credits to another college.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 11:20 PM.