From : BorrowerDefense <borrowerdefense@ed.gov>Date:Mon , Jun 22 , 2020, 12:27 PM

Subject: Borrowerdefense discharge approval information for youTo :

NTEDE

6/22/2020

Borrower Application # :

Dear Albert Cruz :

Wehave completed the review ofyour application for a borrower defensedischarge of your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans ( Direct Loans)

under theborrower defense to repayment rules at 34 C.F.R. 685.222 .Wehave determined that your claim associated with your enrollment (or

your child's enrollment) at ITT Technical Institute is approved .

Weapproved your claim based on the appropriate federal standard . Our

approval decision was based on the following circumstances: EmploymentProspects.

We reviewed evidence provided by you, other borrower defenseapplicants , and the school. Additionally , we considered evidence gatheredfrom the following sources:

1. Employee affidavits and interviews, audio recordings and other

documents and materials providedby the Consumer FinancialProtectionBureau

2. Documents from the Massachusetts and New Mexico AttorneysGeneral3 . Documents from Veterans Education Success4 Materials compiled by ITT's accreditor, ACICS5. Testimony of former ITT recruiter before National Advisory Committee

1/7

on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI

Note : This borrower defense discharge applies only to your Direct Loans.This borrower defense discharge does not apply to private student loansor other loans you may have received from programs administered by

federal or state agencies , including other programs administered by theU.S. Department of Education .

Doesmydischarge apply rightnow ?

Borrower defense discharge applies only to Direct Loans, and we willproceed with the applicable discharge of your Direct Loans. If some of

your federal student loans are Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)Program loans and/ or Federal Perkins Loan Program loans, they are noteligible for discharge under the Borrower Defense to Repayment law or

regulations, unless you decide to consolidate those loans into the Direct

Loan Program . If you decide to consolidate your FFEL loans and/orPerkins loans into the Direct Loan Program , visitStudentAid.gov/consolidation .

How much ofmydebt is getting discharged ?

We determine how much debt relief to provide based on the amountoffinancialharm you suffered as a result of the school's conduct. Financial

harm is defined for this purpose as the difference between the median

wages earned by graduates of the program forwhich you filed the

successful borrower defense claim (also called “ your program earnings”)and those earned by graduates of similar programs atother schools (also

called “ comparison earnings”). This earnings information is available atStudentAid.gov/borrower-defense-discharge-earnings .

As a result, 0 % of the total amount of the Direct Loans you took out

to pay for your program willbe discharged . You should receive

notification ofyour discharge from your loan servicer within the next

90-120 days. If you who your loan servicer is , you can find thatinformation by reviewing your account information in theNational StudentLoan Data System available at StudentAid.gov .

Note: You may be required to pay federal or state taxes on the amount ofborrower defense discharge you receive. With respect to any taxconsequences relating to your borrower defense discharge, you may wishto contact a tax advisor to understand whether or how much you will likelyowe in taxes as a result of a borrower defense discharge . IRS guidanceabout this issueis available online at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp20-11.pdf. As determined by the IRS, this guidance provides an exemptionfrom federal tax liability for those who received a borrower defensedischarge

How did you determinemy discharge percentage ?

To calculate the amountof your discharge, wecompared the earnings of

those who completed the same or a similar program at your school ( yourprogram earnings” ) to the earnings of those who completed the sameor a

similar program at other schools ( comparison earnings” ). This earnings

2/7

information is available atStudentAid.gov/borrower-defense-dischargeearnings. Specifically,we used a statisticaltoolcalled “ standard deviationto identify the rangeofprogram earnings thatwould qualify for loan relief.Ifyour program earnings exceeded the comparison earnings, then even ifyou have filed an approved claim , you willnotreceive a discharge. Thelarger thenegativegap betweenyourprogram earnings and comparisonearnings, the greater the amountof loan dischargeyou received.

Wehave determined as a matter ofpolicy that this approach is areasonable, appropriate way to calculate the amount of financial harm forstudents in your program affected by the conduct of the schoolmentionedearlier in this letter.

What other information applies to my discharge ?

The following information also applies to your discharge :

RefundofPayments

As stated above , we completed the review of your application for aborrower defense discharge of your DirectLoans under the borrower

defense to repayment rules at 34 C.F.R. . These rules have a

six -year time limitation on receiving a refund ofpayments made on yourfederal student loanswhen a “ substantialmisrepresentation claim such as

yours is approved .

We will inform your loan servicer whether you filed yourborrower defenseto repaymentapplication within six years ofwhen you discovered , orreasonably could have discovered, that your schoolhadmade the

substantialmisrepresentation. One of two things will happen.

• If you filed your application within the six -year period and yourloan payments exceed the amountowed after your discharge is

applied , you will be eligible for a refund of payments . Your loanservicer will apply the borrower defense discharge to your studentloan account and then determine whether you still have an

outstanding amount (balance ) due on any DirectLoans. If a balance

remains on youraccount after your discharge is applied , yourservicer will apply any prior payments made on the discharged loansfirst to the remainingbalance ofyour discharged loans and then to

the balance ofother DirectLoans on your account. Ifno balanceremains on your account , your servicer will return the refund amountto you.

• If you filed your application outsidethe six-yearperiod or your

loan payments are less than the amount owed after yourdischarge is applied , you will notbe eligible for a refund of

payments . Your loan servicer will not apply any prior paymentsmade on the discharged loans or return any refund amount to you .

3/7

Your loan servicer will let you know if you are eligible or ineligible for arefund of payments .

Interest Exemption

Wewill interest on the federal student loans thatwe hold for the

period between the date you submitted your borrower defense applicationand the date of this letter because ittook us an extended period of time to

review your claim .

Your loan servicer will letyou know what your remaining balance is afterthe interestwaiver has been applied.

Note: If you receive a 100% discharge, you do not receive a separateinterestwaiver because your entire loan balance, includingany interest, isdischarged

Whatif I don'tagreewith this decision?

Asmentioned above, the formula we have applied establishes what is

called a rebuttable presumption regarding the amountof financial harmsuffered by students in your program who were affected by your school'sconduct. This means that in the absence of additionalevidence to the

contrary , we consider your appropriate amount ofrelief to be the

percentage discharge determined under the formula.

Ifyou disagree with the percentage discharge determined under theformula or with other parts of this decision , you can ask us to reconsideryourborrower defense application . You can do so in one of two ways:

• Send a new emailwith the subiect line“ Requestfor Reconsideration[ BorrowerDefense@ed.gov .

OR

Mail your request to U.S.Departmentof Education, P.O.Box 1854,Monticello, KY .

In yourrequest for reconsideration, provide the following information:

1) Whatyou think was decided incorrectly;

2 Why you believe the decision was incorrect; and

3 ) Any evidence that you believe establishesthat you are eligiblefor a larger discharge.

We willnot accept any requestfor reconsideration that includes newallegations of misconductby your school. Ifyou wish to make newallegations thatwere not included in borrowerdefenseapplication 01407340, please see the following section. Wewillnot placeyour federal student loans into forbearance or stopped collection activitywhen you file a requestfor reconsideration .

Formore information aboutreconsideration , contact ourborrower defense

hotline at 1-855-279-6207 from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m.Eastern Time (ET) on

4/7

Monday through Friday.

Can I apply for borrower defense ifI have additionalallegations?

Ifyou wish to file a new application regarding acts or omissionsby yourschool other than those described in borrower defense

application 01407340 , please submit an application atStudentAid.gov/borrower-defense . In the new application , you shouldexplain in the relevant sections the basis for any new borrower defense

claims and submit all supporting evidence .

Whathappensnext?

Wait to receive notification of your discharge from your loan servicer. Inaddition , if you do not have additional pending borrower defense torepayment applications, this information applies to you :

This letter applies only to the DirectLoansyou received for theprograms of study related to the approved claims in borrowerdefense application 01407340.When you submitted your borrower

defense application , you were given a choice aboutwhether to haveyour loans placed into a forbearance or stopped collection status. Ifyou opted to continue paying on your loans instead , and if you are

receiving a 100 % loan discharge , you must continue to make

payments on those loans until you receive a notice from your loanservicer thatyour applicable loans have been discharged . * SeeCOVID -19 Note below .

• If you did notreceive a 100 % loan discharge, your loan servicer willinform you of your new Direct Loan balance and the status of your

loans aswell as when you must resumemaking payments and how

much those payments will be. Your servicer will tell you what youmust do . * See COVID - 19 Note below .

If your DirectLoans are in default and are currently in stoppedcollections, and you are receiving less than a 100 % discharge , your

remaining, undischarged loan amount willbe removed from stopped

collections andwewill resume appropriate collection activity. Pleasecontact your loan servicer to discuss the options available for gettingyour remaining loans out of default . * See COVID - 19 Note below .

* COVID - 19 Note: On March 27, 2020 , the president signed the CARESAct, which , among other things , provides broad relief in response to the

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID - 19) for federal student loan borrowers

whose loans are owned by ED . For the period March 13, 2020 , throughSeptember 30 , 2020 , the interest rate on the loans willbe 0 % and no

payments will be required . During this sameperiod for defaulted

borrowers , all proactive collection activities, wage garnishments , andTreasury offsets willbe stopped. Your federal loan servicerwill answer any

questions you have about your specific situation . In addition , Federal

StudentAid's COVID - 19 information page for students , borrowers , andparents is located at StudentAid.gov/coronavirus . Please visit the pageregularly for updates.

5/7

Whatif I have another pending borrower defense application ?

Ifyou have additional pending borrower defense to repaymentapplications , this information applies to you :

• If your loans associated with an additionalborrower defense torepayment application that is still pending are in forbearance or

another status that does notrequire you to make payments , yourloans will remain in forbearance or that other status . Similarly , ifyour

loans associated with thatborrower defense application are in

default and you are currently in stopped collections , those loans willremain in stopped collections .

• Ifyou are unsure if you have additional pending applications , or ifyou would like to check on the status of your loans associated withan additional application , contact ourborrower defense hotline at 1855-279-6207 from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m.ET on Monday through Friday.

What should I know aboutrepayment?

Weoffer a variety ofloan repaymentoptions, including standard,graduated, and extended repaymentplans, which base your payment onyour loanbalance and interest rate, aswell as income-driven repaymentplans, which base yourpayment on your income. Remember, thatwhileyou can choose a repaymentplan that lowers your monthly paymentamount, itmay also increase the amountof interestyou pay over timewhich sometimes is significantly more. Formore information about studentloan repaymentoptions, visitStudentAid.gov/plans.

If you don'tbegin orresumerepaymentwhen required, your loansmaybeplaced into default. Defaulting on your loans subjects you to collectionactivity that includes:

administrative wage garnishment(taking money out of your pay);

• offsetof state and federalpayments youmay be owed (taking moneyowed to you by the government); and

litigation ( taking legal action against you) .

Whatif I have questionsaboutthis letter?

We're available to help you understandthe information in this letter. Youcan contactourborrowerdefensehotlineat 1-855-279-6207from 8 a.m.to

6/7

8 p.m.ET on Monday through Friday.

Sincerely

U.S.Departmentof Education

FederalStudentAid

FederalStudentAidof the U.S. DEPARTMENT

830 First Street, NE Washington ,D.C.StudentAid.gov/borrower-defense

CONFIDENTIALITYNOTICE: This e-mailmessage, includingany attachments, is for the sole useof the intended

recipientandmaycontain confidentialandprivilegedinformation. Any unauthorizedreview, use, disclosureor distributionis prohibited. Ifyou arenotthe intendedrecipient, please contactthe senderby reply e -mailanddestroy all copies ofthe

originalmessage.

7/7