Massachusetts
Biden’s latest student debt forgiveness action affects 3,500 Massachusetts borrowers
BROOKLINE – President Joe Biden’s administration announced Wednesday it is forgiving $6.1 billion in federal student debt for people who attended The Art Institutes, and more than 3,500 borrowers who went to one of the chain’s for-profit schools in Massachusetts will benefit.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said $80 million in federal loan debt will be discharged for former students of the New England Institute of Art in Brookline.
“Predatory for-profit schools”
The Art Institutes shut down last fall amid allegations of fraud, with a federal investigation finding that fewer than 57% of students found jobs in their fields of study within six months of graduation. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that students took out billions of dollars worth of loans to attend the schools, but “got little but lies in return.”
“These predatory for-profit schools harmed vulnerable students for their own financial gain, leaving student borrowers burdened with debt and without viable job or financial prospects,” Campbell said in a statement.
The NEIA filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
“Millions of students, including thousands of Massachusetts students, were taken advantage of by The Art Institutes and had their financial futures threatened,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “This will be transformative for these students’ lives and benefit our economy as a whole.”
Who qualifies for student debt forgiveness?
Students who enrolled in Arts Institutions between January 1, 2004 and October 16, 2017 will have their debt automatically forgiven. Borrowers do not have to take any action or make any further payments.
Biden’s push to broadly forgive student loan debt was blocked by the Supreme Court last year. The president said his administration has now been able to forgive $160 billion total for about 4.6 million borrowers.
BOSTON (WWLP) – A former driving instructor was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to bribing a road test examiner to pass people who failed their road test, including some people who didn’t even show up.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 48-year-old Ngan Dinh of Boston was sentenced to two years in prison with the first six months to be served as home confinement with a GPS monitor. He must also pay a fine of $4,000 and a $5,450 forfeiture. Dinh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud in March.
Dinh is a naturalized U.S. citizen who speaks Vietnamese and some English. Vietnamese immigrants who didn’t speak English would work with Dinh to help them understand RMV rules and requirements for a license. Instead, Dinh would bribe a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV to pass his customers on the road test after they failed the test. Some customers never showed up to their tests as well.
Customers would pay Dinh up to $1,200 in cash only. Dinh would also persuade the customers to pay him larger amounts by lying to them. In some cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, he would lie to his customers, saying the RMV wasn’t offering road tests due to the virus, but that was false. He claimed he could get them licenses during this time because he was a “certified rep” for the RMV. Dinh paid the employee $100 cash for each customer and kept the rest of the money for himself.
Local News
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
They say marijuana can give you the munchies. That may explain the alleged break-in spree of two from Massachusetts.
According to police, on Saturday, at approximately 5:36 a.m., Blackstone Police received multiple reports of car break-ins on Michelle Lane and Ascension Street, and break-ins at multiple businesses including, First Choice Dispensary and Casa Burrito.
Officers responded to the area. Through a preliminary investigation, which included reviewing surveillance footage and through the cooperation of the public, officers were able to identify two juveniles, a 15-year-old male and 17-year-old male both from Blackstone.
Both juveniles are being charged with the following:
- Breaking and Entering into a Vehicle in the Nighttime
- Breaking and Entering into a Building in the Nighttime (Two Counts)
- Larceny from a Building
- Larceny under $1,200
- Larceny of a Credit Card
- Malicious Destruction Under $1,200
- Trespassing
- Larceny Under $1,200 by False Pretense
Both juveniles are expected to be charged in Milford District Court next week.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — A new campaign headquarters opened up in Massachusetts for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign on Sunday.
The office is located at the DeMello International Center on Union Street in New Bedford.
Massachusetts GOP Chair Amy Carnevale and former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, chairman for Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts, delivered remarks.
Another office in Massachusetts opened up a couple of weeks prior in Northborough.
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