More than 317,000 borrowers are eligible for a total of $6.1 billion in automatic student loan forgiveness, the U.S. Department of Education announced today.

Eligible borrowers were enrolled in any Art Institute campus between Jan. 1, 2004 to Oct. 16, 2017. Art Institute closed the bulk of its campuses, including locations in Atlanta and Nashville, by 2019. Another eight locations, including The Art Institute of Atlanta and Miami International University of Art & Design, closed in 2023.

“The Art Institutes preyed on the hopes of students attempting to better their lives through education,” Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray said in a statement. “We cannot replace the time stolen from these students, but we can lift the burden of their debt. We remain committed to working with our federal and state partners to protect borrowers.”

The relief comes after the U.S. Department of Education found The Art Institutes and their parent company, Education Management Corporation, made “pervasive and substantial misrepresentations,” regarding postgraduation employment rates, salaries and career services.

According to the findings, the Art Institute advertised more than 80% of graduates obtained employment related to their fields of study within six months of graduation but internal records demonstrate those rates were inflated. The Art Institute counted graduates, however, where the school didn’t know the people’s job titles or whether their field was related to their course of study. Those omissions meant instead of the advertised 82% of graduates working in their field, the actual figure was no higher than 57% and that number may be inaccurate as well.

The department said The Art Institute also falsified employment rates to display inaccurate salaries for its graduates, inflating pay by tens of thousands of dollars.

Qualified borrowers will automatically receive the debt relief. The department is currently in the process of notifying eligible borrowers so they no longer make any payments.

The action brings the total amount of student relief approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to almost $160 billion for nearly 4.6 million borrowers.