Former Everest students want province to write off student loans

The Everest College campus in downtown Kitchener is seen on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. (Frank Lynn / CTV Kitchener)

When Everest College abruptly shuttered its 14 campuses across Ontario earlier this year, the province offered millions of dollars to help affected students.

Now, the same students are calling for the province to do more – specifically, to write off their student loans.

Sarah Dixon, a former student at Everest’s campus in Kitchener, likes the sound of the idea.

“It wasn’t our fault,” she told CTV News.

When Everest closed, Dixon was seven weeks away from graduating the school’s PSW program.

“I was so close to being done school. I felt like I was just left there, like a lost puppy,” she said.

Instead, she says, she was left with a student loan of $22,000.

Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has agreed to limit student debt to $7,300 for students in a two-year program, or $10,950 for students in a three-year program.

Any student who decides not to complete their training will be eligible for a tuition refund.

Dixon took up the St. Louis Adult Learning Centre on its offer to finish her program.

She says the school welcomed her with “open arms” and did everything they could to get her education back on track.