Project on Predatory Student Lending Sues Department of Education

The Project on Predatory Student Lending filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday, alleging the agency violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The lawsuit claims the department continued reporting outstanding balances to credit bureaus for approximately 300,000 borrowers whose debts were canceled through the borrower defense to repayment program between April 2022 and January 2025.

The canceled debts total an estimated $4.6 billion and belonged to borrowers previously defrauded by for-profit institutions, including ITT Technical Institute and Ashford University. The advocacy group asserts that these erroneous reports damaged credit scores and created fears of wrongful tax refund offsets or wage garnishment.

The U.S. Department of Education has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations.