The for-profit college operator Education Management Corporation will forgive loans to about 80,000 former students nationwide as part of an agreement with state attorneys general resulting from a multiyear investigation of the company’s aggressive recruitment practices.

The $102.8 million loan forgiveness program was announced on Monday in Washington along with a separate $95.5 million civil settlement with the Department of Justice, the result of a whistle-blower lawsuit accusing the company of using boiler-room tactics to enroll students who had little chance of succeeding in college.

“EDMC wasn’t interested in playing by the rules,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan in announcing the federal settlement. “The company seemed to care only about revenue at significant cost to students and taxpayers.”

Under the settlement with the states, students nationwide who were enrolled for 45 days or fewer and who had transferred fewer than 24 credit hours from another university will see their private loans automatically forgiven by the company, said Nathan Blake, an assistant attorney general in Iowa, one of the lead states involved in negotiations with the company. The average student eligible for the program will receive about $1,370 in loan forgiveness.