But students who attended the Academy of Nursing must surrender something in return: the ability to discuss the settlements or to gripe about the bank's conduct in the academy fiasco.

Key is insisting students forgo the right to sue the bank, its subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, employees "or in any other way complain of their conduct" in court or to "any administrative or regulatory body, state or federal," according to a settlement agreement obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.

In some cases, the student can't even sue the academy - not for damages, not even to recover the portion of the loans not dissolved by the bank. According to the contract provided to The Tribune, that right transfers to Key, which agrees to give the student damages above and beyond what it paid to forgive the loan.

Key spokeswoman Jill Arslenian would not comment on the possibility of litigation, but the clause shows the bank hasn't ruled out suing the academy to recover some of the $5 million it funneled the school between February 2003 and September 2004.

As for the confidentiality agreements, Arslenian said they are a "standard business practice used in all of Key's litigation."

Several students had no trouble detecting a pattern. How predictable, they said, that KeyBank would make loan forgiveness contingent on confidentiality, considering that for two years the bank responded to complaints about the academy with silence.

Consumer protection attorney Tom Domonoske suspects the gag orders are designed to stop students from testifying in other cases in which banks have refused to forgive student loans - like the one he brought against KeyBank on behalf of computer students in Virginia.

"They don't want other people to know they can get that relief," Domonoske said of the banks. "They don't want a record of their depravity."

To the surprise of students, KeyBank sent checks for the entire loan amount directly to the academy, including funds that were supposed to pay for living expenses. In one case, it forwarded money on behalf of a student who insists she never applied for a loan or attended the academy. In another case, the bank reportedly gave the academy money for a student who had withdrawn from the school several weeks earlier.

Some students said they are more concerned about relinquishing their legal rights than about signing confidentiality agreements. Amber Crocket, of Salt Lake City, said she would like nothing better than to sue the academy and its owners "mainly because I don't think I should owe anything at all."

Karen Kakunes, of Sandy, accused Key of giving the academy "a safety net."

Former academy student Lian Silva, of West Jordan, has plenty of criticism for Key, saying the bank stonewalled students until the news media started airing their grievances. But if the bank is willing to forgive, she is willing to forget - or at least keep quiet.

"They were a little cocky at first," Silva said of Key officials. "But they came through in the end."

lfantin@sltrib.com