December 2018 Page 1 of 5

Information for Students Affected by the Closure of

Education Corporation of America Schools

On Dec. 5, 2018, officials representing the Education Corporation of America (ECA)—owners of

Brightwood College and Brightwood Career Institute, as well as Virginia College (including Golf

Academy of America and Ecotech Institute)—informed the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that

 Contact your state agency (or agencies, depending

on your course of study) to explore your transfer

options, including whether your state is hosting a

transfer fair; learn how to get your academic

records; and find out if your state has a tuition

recovery fund. A list of state agencies is on pages

three through five.

Transfer Your Credits To Another School

Your state agency can provide information about schools

If you do transfer into a comparable program offered by

another school, that school will evaluate your transcript,

course work, and hours completed in the subjects

covered in your course of study, and will decide how

much credit to give you for the work you’ve already

completed, as well as identify the coursework you need

to complete your program of study. It is up to the new

school to decide how much credit to give you.

ED is working with officials to process student records

eligibility.

Remember, if you transfer the credits you’ve earned at

your closed school toward a comparable program at

another school and you complete or are in the process

of completing that program, you will not be eligible to

receive a closed school loan discharge for those

credits.

If you transfer to another school to continue your

education, you may be asked to provide a copy of your

Closed School Loan Discharge Criteria

There are certain criteria for a closed school loan

discharge, and there are certain steps you need to take

to apply for a student loan discharge.

Student loan borrowers (and parents who took out PLUS

loans on behalf of students) may be eligible for a 100-

percent discharge of your federal student loans borrowed to

attend your school under either of these circumstances:

 Your school closed while you were enrolled, and

before your school ceased instruction.

You are not eligible for discharge of your loans if your

school closed and any of the following is true:

 You withdrew from all classes more than 120 days

before your school ceased instruction.

 You completed all of your coursework for your

program prior to your school closing, even though

you have not received a diploma or certificate.

 You are completing a comparable educational

program at another school by

To apply for a closed school loan discharge, you can either:

 Complete and return the closed school loan discharge application sent to you by your servicer or complete the closed

school loan discharge application at StudentAid.gov/closedschoolform and return it to your loan servicer, or

 Contact your loan servicer for more information before you complete the application.

You must send your Closed School Loan Discharge Application to your federal student loan servicer. To find out who your

loan servicer is, log in to “My Federal Student Aid” at StudentAid.gov/login or call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY for

the hearing impaired 1-800-730-8913).

 Be sure to continue to make payments on your loan while your discharge application is being processed.

 If you do not meet the criteria for a loan discharge, you will be informed by your loan servicer and will need to

percent, the six-year equivalent is 600 percent. For more information, visit StudentAid.gov/pell-leu. If you are eligible for the

restoration of Pell Grant eligibility, your restoration will be done automatically; there is nothing for you to do. If your Pell Grant

eligibility has been restored for the current award year, and/or you have regained eligibility bringing you under the 600-percent

limitation, you will be notified by email.

Accessing Information About Your Federal Financial Aid

If you need to access information about your federal financial aid history, log in to “My Federal Student Aid” at

StudentAid.gov/login.

If you filed a FAFSA

Please visit StudentAid.gov/closures to view common Q&As asked by students of other closed schools, as well as a table—

StudentAid.gov/eca-closures—containing information related to your school’s exact closure date. The table will be updated

regularly to reflect new school closures.

Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY for the hearing impaired

1-800-730-8913) for help understanding this information.

Maryland

Website: mhec.state.md.us

Ohio

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Carolina