California Halts Grants For Students At Corinthian’s Heald College Campuses

Heald College, along with Everest College and WyoTech, are all operated by CCI.

Heald College, along with Everest College and WyoTech, are all operated by CCI.

Nearly 4,500 students at California campuses of the for-profit Heald College chain — operated by the beleaguered Corinthian Colleges, Inc. —  have been notified they won’t be receiving state grants to help finance their education  because school administrators failed to provide financial statements to state regulators.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the campus administrators are required to file these audited statements with the California Student Aid Commission in order for students to receive state-funded Cal Grants for attending local schools.

The funds, which range from $2,000 to $11,000, are sent from the state to individual schools which then credit students’ accounts.

Last week, the Commission began withholding a total of around $1 million in grant payments. That total could swell to $14 million by the end of this week.

The Commission said in a statement that the failure to provide audited financials and statements about CCI’s “severe financial crisis,” raised questions about whether Heald “possesses the requisite financial stability to participate in the Cal Grant Program.”

A spokesperson for CCI said the company is “surprised and disappointed” by the commission’s action to halt grants.

The halting of Cal Grants comes as a second blow for the embattled for-profit college chain in a week. It was announced Friday that the company would likely be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange this week after it failed to file earnings statements for the last three quarters.

The latest chapters in CCI’s downfall come months after the company agreed to close or sell a majority of its campuses after reaching a deal with Dept. of Education.

The company, which is at the center of numerous federal and state investigations and lawsuits regarding allegations of bogus job-placement statistics, grade manipulation, questionable marketing practices, recently completed a $24 million sale of 56 campuses to Education Credit Management Corporation. That sale did not include any California campuses.

California Halts Grants to Corinthian’s Heald Students [The Wall Street Journal]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.