Argosy University settlement secures debt relief for former students

(FOX 9) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has announced an agreement with the current owners of Argosy University’s student debt to cancel outstanding principal and interest for students who attended the university in the years before its abrupt closure in 2019. 

According to an announcement, Ellison led a bipartisan coalition of nine other states in securing the agreement. In total, the agreement cancels nearly $2.1 million in institutional debt that students at 12 Argosy campuses around the country.

As part of the settlement agreement, entities controlling Argosy student debt agree to cancel private debt, including up to $135,000 in relief for former students of its Eagan campus in addition to discharged debt for Minnesota students who attended Argosy’s online campuses.

"People take out student loans to help them and their families afford their lives, and they trust that the schools they attend are well managed and telling them the truth. Argosy University’s owners mismanaged the schools and misled their students and the public about their financial state, nonprofit status, and options for students before closure," Ellison said in a statement. "I’m glad my office was able to negotiate with the current holders of the schools’ institutional student debts and agree to cancel them. I hope this relief is a step forward for those students who were stuck with burdensome debt when Argosy closed and left them high and dry." 

When Dream Center Education Holdings purchased Argosy in 2017, it falsely marketed to prospective students that it was a "nonprofit" institution. 

In 2019, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education confirmed the parent company of the university, Dream Center Education Holdings, was in financial trouble and that its Eagan campus would likely close.