Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement After Biden-Harris Administration Discharges Debt for 261,000 Ashford University Borrowers

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement today after the U.S. Department of Education announced a group discharge for former Ashford University students, impacting 261,000 borrowers and discharging $4.5 billion of debt. In 2017, the California Department of Justice sued Ashford for deceiving students by making false promises and furnishing faulty information to persuade them to enroll — students then relied on this information to take out federal student loans to attend Ashford. In March 2022, the San Diego Superior Court found that Ashford University violated the law by giving students false or misleading information about career outcomes, cost and financial aid, pace of degree programs, and transfer credits. In 2024, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s decision and upheld $21 million in penalties.

“Ashford University made false promises to students about the value of an Ashford degree and the opportunities it would create and instead left students worse off: with mounting debt and searching for a job. This is unacceptable and illegal. California stopped this fraud when we sued Ashford and held it accountable for its deception,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “I am proud that California's work taking this case to trial paved the way for the U.S. Department of Education to provide relief today for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who were deceived by Ashford. I commend the Biden Administration and the Department of Education for making sure that students who were scammed into trusting in Ashford have the opportunity for a brighter future they always deserved.”