(Radio Iowa) – Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City has reached a settlement with international students who accused the school of human trafficking. The school’s board of directors has approved a three-million-dollar payment to 13 students from Chile who filed a lawsuit in November of 2020. The students who took part in what’s called the Federal J-1 student program and said they were promised a free two-year program with internships. But the students say they ended up doing jobs involving manual labor to pay off their tuition.

The college issued a statement that acknowledges the program did not meet its high standards, but denied the allegations in the lawsuit. A lawsuit is still pending against the Sioux City area companies involved with the program.