Occupy Wall Street's plan to beat consumer debt has quietly become a success

The Occupy movement is still making a huge difference in thousands of lives.

The group's Rolling Jubilee "Strike Debt" initiative has quietly forgiven millions in medical and student loans since 2012 after buying the debt on the secondary market.

Sixteen-thousand people have been relieved of nearly $32 million in debt, according to the effort's website. The group has achieved this success despite raising just over $700,000.

Rolling Jubilee buys debt on the secondary market for what amounts to pennies on the dollar and, instead of initiating a debt collection process, send people a letter informing them the bill is no longer hanging over their heads.

Nearly $4 million in private student loans have been forgiven at a cost of about $100,000, the group announced last year. The students all came from the for-profit Everest College, part of Corinthian Colleges, which Rolling Jubilee called "predatory."

"Everest College is committing widespread fraud. It targets lower-income students of color, offers low quality education, and - with the help of the federal government - buries students under a lifetime of crushing debt, all to profit the 1%," reads a letter sent by Rolling Jubilee to indebted students relieved of their loans. "You are not a loan!"

Corinthian Colleges announced Monday that it is closing all campuses and immediately ceasing all operations. Some 16,000 students have been left high and dry in the middle of their spring semester.

The remainder of the canceled debt comes from hospital visits by uninsured people in low-income neighborhoods, Mike Andrews, who is part of Rolling Jubilee, previously told Business Insider.

Rolling Jubilee works mainly off of donations. Transparency reports detail how money is spent and where debt is purchased and forgiven.

The collective did not respond to a Business Insider request for further comment.