	Introduction

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCI) was the parent company of several private, for-profit institutions of higher education, including the Everest Institute, Everest Colleges, Heald Colleges, and Wyotech Technical Schools (Wyotech). CCI operated more than 100 of these institutions across the nation, with total enrollments of approximately 72,000 students who annually received roughly $1.4 billion in federal financial aid. On June 19, 2014, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it had placed CCI on an increased level of financial oversight known as Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 (HCM1), coupled with a 21-day waiting period for funds reimbursement, as a stipulation to its continued participation in the Higher Education Act (HEA) Title IV federal student aid programs. ED had taken this action in response to CCI's failure to address concerns relating to a variety of practices, including failing to provide ED with requested data related to inconsistences in job placement rates that had been presented to students. In response to its limited access to federal student aid funds, CCI announced it might have to close its schools. On July 3, 2014, to avoid abrupt closure, CCI and ED reached an agreement under which the company agreed to develop a plan to sell or teach-out its educational programs. Subsequently, the Zenith Education Group (Zenith) was formed as a nonprofit provider of career education programs. Zenith is a subsidiary of the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), a nonprofit student loan guaranty agency involved in the administration of loans made through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Zenith was formed for the purpose of buying a large portion of CCI's schools. Student Loans

		Are former CCI students eligible to have their student loans discharged? How many former CCI students are eligible for or have received federal student loan discharge as a result of CCI's actions? How will the discharge of federal student loans affect former CCI students' future eligibility for loans? Under the revenue procedure: 
1. former CCI students whose federal student loans are discharged under a defense against repayment claim will not be subject to tax on the amount of the loan discharge; 2. former CCI students whose federal student loans are discharged under the closed school discharge procedure will not be subject to tax on the amount of the loan discharge; and 3. former CCI students will not have to increase the taxes they owe in the year of discharge in order to account for previously claimed education-related credits and deductions. Other Types of Federal Education Benefits49

		Is there any relief for former CCI students who received Pell Grants? Is there any relief for former CCI students who receive GI Bill benefits?
Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCI) was the parent company of several private, for-profit institutions of higher education, including the Everest Institute, Everest Colleges, Heald Colleges, and Wyotech Technical Schools. CCI operated more than 100 of these institutions across the nation, with total enrollments of approximately 72,000 students who annually received roughly $1.4 billion in federal financial aid.
In summer 2014, the Department of Education (ED) limited CCI's access to federal student aid in response to CCI's failure to address concerns relating to a variety of practices, including failing to provide ED with requested data related to CCI's Title IV federal student aid participation. To avoid abrupt closure of its schools due to the financial stresses that the limited access to federal student aid put on CCI, the company and ED reached an agreement under which CCI agreed to sell or "teach-out" its educational programs. Subsequently, the Zenith Education Group (Zenith) was formed by the Education Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) as a nonprofit entity for the purpose of buying a large portion of CCI's schools. Those CCI schools not purchased by Zenith closed.
This report answers several frequently asked questions regarding the effect of the sale and closure of CCI's schools as they relate to former CCI students' student aid, including the following:
Are former CCI students eligible to have their student loans discharged? How many former CCI students are eligible for or have received federal student loan discharge as a result of CCI's actions? How will the discharge of federal student loans affect former CCI students' future eligibility for loans? Will the discharge of student loans create an income tax liability for former CCI students? Is there any relief for former CCI students who received Pell Grants? Is there any relief for former CCI students who received GI Bill benefits?
Additional information on the HEA federal student loan programs is available in CRS Report R40122, Federal Student Loans Made Under the Federal Family Education Loan Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program: Terms and Conditions for Borrowers, by [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report RL31618, Campus-Based Student Financial Aid Programs Under the Higher Education Act, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].
Additional information on the Pell Grant program is available in CRS Report R42446, Federal Pell Grant Program of the Higher Education Act: How the Program Works and Recent Legislative Changes, by [author name scrubbed].
Additional information veterans' education benefits is available in CRS Report R42755, The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post-9/11 GI Bill): Primer and Issues, by [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report R42785, GI Bills Enacted Prior to 2008 and Related Veterans' Educational Assistance Programs: A Primer, by [author name scrubbed].
Additional information on institutional eligibility to participate in the Higher Education Act Title IV federal student aid programs is available in CRS Report R43159, Institutional Eligibility for Participation in Title IV Student Financial Aid Programs, by [author name scrubbed].