Educational Credit Management Corporation
Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) is a United States nonprofit corporation based in Minnesota. Since 1994, ECMC has operated in the areas of student loan bankruptcy management and loan collection. ECMC is one of a number of guaranty agencies which oversee student loans for the United States Department of Education. Starting in 2015, through its Zenith Education Group, company operations have expanded into ownership and operation of colleges.
ECMC has been controversial for its aggressive tactics in recovering loans and the large bonuses paid to its collectors.[1][2]
Since 1994, according to ECMC, they have returned $4.3 billion to the U.S. Treasury.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1994 in Minnesota.[2]
In March 2010, the company was the target of data theft. The personal information on 3.3 million student-loan borrowers was taken.[3]
In 2012, a panel of bankruptcy appeal judges criticized the company for its “waste of judicial resources,” and abuse of the bankruptcy process.[2]
In February 2015, the company's newly created subsidiary Zenith Education Group acquired 56 Everest College and WyoTech campuses from Corinthian Colleges Inc. Zenith planned to transition the schools from for-profit to nonprofit status. It also planned to eliminate some programs with poor completion and job placement rates.[4]
