ECMC is one of a number of guaranty agencies that oversee student loans for the United States Department of Education.
[3] It provides current and future borrowers with free services,[4] and employs an ombudsman to assist with complaints and disputes, questions, and to clarify processes.
[12] ECMC has been controversial for its alleged "ruthless" tactics in recovering loans and for the large bonuses it paid its collectors.
[2][13] In 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was investigating, alleging that ECMC deliberately made student debtors incur additional fees when their accounts went into debt collection.
[20] In November 2018, ECMC Foundation funded an effort by Education Design Lab focused on single mothers in college.
[21] In December 2018, ECMC opened a college access center in Alexandria, VA.[22] In March 2019, the group invested in Cluster, Inc., a company focused on the industrial manufacturing workforce.
[29] In August 2020, national refrigeration company CoolSys announced a partnership with ECMC Education that is said to be focused on employee training.
[37] In 2014, US Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee said ECMC's purchase of Everest Colleges and Wyotech "raises great questions about their purposes."
[39] The deal included the forgiveness of $480 million in loans Corinthian students took out, earning praise from federal agencies and some consumer groups.
[42][10] In 2016, the Associated Press reported that the remaining colleges continued to recruit students through telemarketing and advertisements on daytime TV talk shows, and had not made substantive changes to its curriculum.
[11] In November 2018, Altierus Career College launched new programs at its Tampa, FL, location including nursing associate of science, computer information technology and dental assisting.
"[52] In 2014, Emory professor Rafael Pardo wrote a piece in the University of Florida Law Review that criticized ECMC for its "pollutive litigation" against powerless student loan debtors.
[53] In January 2020, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that a debtor with more than $200,000 in student loan debt was entitled to an undue hardship discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C.