{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=FF1256CA-D294-4B81-ACE0-6EE0786FBF80", "Sen. Murray, Attorney General Ferguson Urge U.S. Department of Education to Provide Immediate, Long Overdue Loan Debt Relief to Former Washington State Students Cheated by Defunct Vocational School", "2016-12-07", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Nearly a decade after the Court Reporting Institute, Inc. (CRI) in Seattle and Tacoma shut down after defrauding students and violating state laws, hundreds of cheated students are still saddled with federal student loan debt\u00a0\r\nAs detailed in a letter by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson to the U.S. Department of Education, CRI induced students to enroll by systematically misrepresenting its educational practices, instructor qualifications, graduation rates, and employment prospects: LINK\u00a0\r\nToday, in a letter echoing Attorney General Ferguson\u2019s submission, Sen. Murray is urging the U.S. Department of Education to exercise its legal authority to grant full and immediate group debt relief to former CRI students in Washington State: LINK\u00a0\r\nSen. Murray and Attorney General Ferguson: We can never fully remedy the harm done to these students through shattered dreams and lost time, but we can support them by ensuring they get the relief they deserve.\u00a0\r\n(Washington, D.C) \u2013\u00a0Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Education (\u201cthe Department\u201d) to provide full and immediate student loan debt relief to Washington State students formerly enrolled at the Court Reporting Institute, Inc. (\u201cCRI\u201d).\r\nCRI was opened in 1988 under the pretense of providing stenographic training to students in Seattle and Tacoma looking to launch a career in transcription. Instead, as detailed in a November 21, 2016 letter from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson to the Department, this vocational school induced students to enroll and finance their educations with extraordinary levels of debt by systematically misrepresenting its educational practices, instructor qualifications, graduation rates, and employment prospects. While CRI often claimed a job placement rate of 100 percent, only 6 percent of CRI students ever graduated. Only 30 percent of graduates (1.7 percent of students) got a job in court reporting within nine months of graduating.\r\nCRI closed its doors in late August 2006 in the face of overwhelming student complaints, adverse regulatory findings, and negative press. The students who attended CRI\u2019s court reporting program, however, never received relief on their fraudulently-issued federal student loan debt. Today, nearly a decade after the school closed, 335 former CRI students from the Seattle campus alone are still working to pay back outstanding federal student loan debt.\r\nIn her letter to the Department concurring with Attorney General Ferguson\u2019s request, Senator Murray says these former students are entitled to full and immediate student loan debt relief under the current \u201cborrower defense to repayment\u201d regulations which allow the Department to discharge loans based on violations of state law.\r\n\r\n\u201cFar too many students throughout our country who were simply trying to secure a higher education and a good job have been cheated and lied to by predatory schools that promised to help them,\u201d wrote Senator Murray. \u201cDue to the widespread and well-documented nature of the company\u2019s misrepresentations\u2026I ask that the Department exercise its authority to grant group relief to all CRI students who attended its Seattle and Tacoma locations.\u201d\r\nAs established in Attorney General Ferguson\u2019s letter, CRI\u2019s misrepresentations and practices give rise to state law causes of action under Washington\u2019s Consumer Protection Act and common law fraud.\r\n \u201cStudent loan debt is a major burden for thousands of Washingtonians,\u201d Attorney General Ferguson said. \u201cThe Education Department has the ability to grant relief to the hundreds of students still suffering from the unscrupulous tactics of this predatory, for-profit school. I ask them to join me and Sen. Murray in fighting to protect students from schools that don\u2019t play by the rules.\u201d\r\nFull text of Attorney General Ferguson\u2019s letter can be found HERE, along with more information on his examination into CRI HERE.\r\nFull text of Senator Murray\u2019s letter can be found HERE and below:\r\nDecember 7, 2016\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe Honorable John B. King, Jr.  Secretary of Education  400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.  Washington, DC 20202\r\nDear Secretary King:\r\nThank you for your commitment to providing debt relief for students who have been the victims of unfair and abusive practices by institutions of higher education. I deeply appreciate the work that your agency has done over the past few years to develop stronger protections for student loan borrowers. Unfortunately, far too many students throughout our country who were simply trying to secure a higher education and a good job have been cheated and lied to by predatory schools that promised to help them.\r\nI would like to bring your attention to the deceptive actions of the Court Reporting Institute, Inc. (\u201cCRI\u201d), and request that you provide full and immediate loan discharge to every student that enrolled in the company\u2019s court reporting programs at its Seattle and Tacoma locations. CRI was opened in 1988 under the pretense of providing stenographic training to students looking to launch a career in transcription. Instead, as detailed in a November 21, 2016 letter from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson to the U.S. Department of Education (\u201cthe Department\u201d), this vocational school induced students to enroll and finance their educations with extraordinary levels of debt by systematically misrepresenting its educational practices, instructor qualifications, graduation rates, and employment prospects. These students are entitled to full student loan debt relief under the \u201cborrower defense to repayment\u201d regulations found in 34 C.F.R. \u00a7 685.206.\r\nDespite numerous student complaints, agency findings, and demands for reform of CRI\u2019s fraudulent practices by the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (\u201cWorkforce Board\u201d)\u2014which oversees vocational and technical schools in Washington\u2014the company repeatedly failed to clean up its act. This fraudulent behavior is well documented. As established in Attorney General Ferguson\u2019s letter, CRI\u2019s misrepresentations give rise to state law causes of action under Washington\u2019s Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86, and common law fraud.\r\nI am particularly troubled by the evidence presented that the company repeatedly provided extremely misleading information to students about the time necessary to complete their program and job placement rates. The company represented that the average time to completion for the court reporting programs was two to three years, and its own course catalogs claimed job placement rates for graduates of an astounding 100 percent. However, the Workforce Board\u2019s examination of student records over a three-year period revealed that just 6 percent of students exiting CRI\u2019s court reporting programs left as graduates\u2014the rest dropped out\u2014and only 1.7 percent found meaningful and relevant employment as court reporters within nine months. CRI also employed unqualified individuals to each critical court reporting classes, and many students reported that they were essentially self-taught. On the basis of this information, the Workforce Board determined that CRI had engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices that violate Washington state law. Had CRI communicated its shockingly low job placement rates, the actual time to completion, or the quality of education offered, no reasonable student would have enrolled in CRI\u2019s court reporting program.\r\nCRI closed its doors in late August 2006 in the face of overwhelming student complaints, adverse regulatory findings, and negative press. According to bankruptcy court records, CRI had a gross income of $3.2 million the year before its collapse, and paid its owner nearly half a million dollars in the nine months leading up to the school\u2019s closure. The students who attended CRI\u2019s court reporting program, however, never received relief on their fraudulently-issued federal student loan debt.\r\nDue to the widespread and well-documented nature of the company\u2019s misrepresentations, and clear violations of Washington state law, I ask that the Department exercise its authority to grant group relief to all CRI students who attended its Seattle and Tacoma locations. According to information from your staff provided to my office on July 7, 2016, nearly a decade after the school closed, 335 former CRI students from the Seattle campus alone are still working to pay back outstanding federal student loan debt.\r\nWe can never fully remedy the harm done to students through shattered dreams and lost time, but we can support students who have been repeatedly misled and exploited by bad actors. I urge the Department to provide full and immediate relief for all former CRI court reporting students. Thank you for the Department\u2019s record of standing up for students to ensure they get the relief they deserve. I will do everything I can to ensure that our students continue to be protected now and in the future.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=FF1256CA-D294-4B81-ACE0-6EE0786FBF80"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1663814075291157, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}