Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Way back in December, we advised high school seniors who planned on attending college to not be stupid and go fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] form right away. Every year, billions of dollars in grant and loan money goes unclaimed because students and their parents never get around to filling out this paperwork, and it looks like the upcoming school year will be no different. [More]
Education
Billions In College Aid Will Go Unclaimed Again Because Students Won’t Fill Out A Stupid Form
By 5.5.15
Corinthian Colleges Inc. Files For Bankruptcy
By 5.4.15
A week after embattled for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. closed its remaining Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech campuses, the company filed for bankruptcy, essentially closing the book on the company’s long downward spiral. [More]
PRO Students Act Aims To Protect Students From For-Profit Colleges’ Bad Behavior
By 4.30.15
It’s difficult to go a month or even just a few weeks without hearing of another for-profit college being under investigation for unscrupulous practices, such as inflated job placement rates and pushing students into costly student loans. New legislation announced today aims to curtail the number of investigations we hear about by protecting students from predatory, deceptive, and fraudulent practices in the for-profit college sector, before they even enroll. [More]
List Of Transfer Schools For Corinthian College Students Includes Other For-Profit Chains Under Investigation
By 4.28.15
Just because students who attended the now closed Everest University, Heald College or WyoTech campuses can’t finish their college career with Corinthian Colleges Inc., doesn’t mean they can’t finish their education somewhere else. For student who would prefer to transfer to a similar program rather than receive a refund, the Department of Education has provided a list of viable colleges. But that list has quickly garnered criticism from lawmakers because it includes other for-profit education institutions under scrutiny. [More]
Students Affected By Corinthian Colleges Closures Have Some Relief Options
By 4.27.15
Although many of us saw the final collapse of Corinthian Colleges Inc. on the horizon since last summer, for the nearly 16,000 students who were currently enrolled at the company’s 28 remaining Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech campuses news that they no longer have a school to attend was no doubt jarring, opening a door to questions about their future education and the debt burden they now carry. [More]
Petition Calls For Loan Relief For Corinthian College Students
By 4.27.15
Ever since for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges began its downward spiral last summer, consumer groups, students and legislators have urged the Department of Education to provide current and former students relief from student loans they took out to finance an education based on deceptive recruitment practices. Now that CCI has closed its remaining Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech campuses, consumer advocates say discharging federal student loans held by these students – and protecting students of other for-profit institutions – should be of immediate concern for the Department. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Completes Collapse, Closes Remaining Campuses Effective Immediately
By 4.26.15
Although it was nearly a year in the making, the largest collapse in U.S. higher education finally occurred Sunday, as embattled for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. – the operator of Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech – announced it would close the remainder of its campuses effective Monday. [More]
DeVry Closing 14 Campuses, Moving Students Online
By 4.24.15
Amid lawsuits, scandals, shutdowns — not to mention the many former students who say they racked up huge student loan bills without getting an adequate education — enrollment at for-profit colleges in the U.S. continues to shrink. And students at 14 DeVry campuses in 11 cities will soon have to take their education online with the educator moving those schools online in an effort to save money. [More]
Senators Want To Close Federal Funding Loophole Exploited By For-Profit Colleges
By 4.23.15
Each year for-profit colleges receive billions of dollars in Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits by exploiting a loophole in the rules that govern how these institutions collect federal funds. Once again, a group of senators has set out to change the way in which these schools count student aid, this time by urging the Department of Education to take an aggressive stand. [More]
California Orders Corinthian Colleges To Stop Enrollment At WyoTech, Everest Campuses
By 4.22.15
The collapse of for-profit education chain Corinthian Colleges – operator of Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech – continued today after a California regulator issued an order requiring the company to cease enrolling new students at its Everest and WyoTech campuses in the state. [More]
Corinthian Colleges Fined $30M Over Falsified Job Placement Rates At Heald College
By 4.15.15
The Department of Education continued its crackdown on deceptive for-profit college practices Tuesday by levying a $30 million fine against embattled Corinthian Colleges Inc. – operator of Everest University, Heald College and WyoTech – over the use of misstated and inaccurate job placement rates to recruit students. [More]
Nine Attorneys General Join “Corinthian 15,” Urge DOE To Provide Student Loan Debt Relief For Wronged Borrowers
By 4.10.15
A group of former and current Corinthian College Inc. students refusing to pay their federal student loans in protest of the government’s support of the crumbling for-profit college chain now have the backing of several top political officeholders afternine attorneys general from across the U.S. sent a letter to the Department of Education asking it to forgive the students’ loan debts. [More]
Dept. Of Education Reveals Names Of 550 Colleges — Mostly For-Profits — Under Federal Scrutiny
By 4.7.15
For months now, Congress has debated the merits of creating an oversight committee tasked with improving coordination in federal and state oversight of the for-profit college industry. If that group ever comes to fruition, it appears they would likely have their work cut out for them, as the Department of Education recently released its previously secret list of colleges under scrutiny for financial reasons, half of which are for-profit schools. [More]
New York Consumer Agency Opens Investigation Into Four For-Profit Colleges
By 4.3.15
Student dropouts, loans default rates and recruiting tactics have been the cornerstone of many federal and state investigations into for-profit colleges. It appears to be much of the same for four such schools facing probes by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. [More]
For-Profit College Enrollment Is Down Following Scandals & School Failures
By 3.31.15
With increasing scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, consumer advocates and the general public, the past five years have been hard on a for-profit college industry that had enjoyed years of happily feeding at the federal student aid trough. There have been changes to schools’ often excessive advertising budgets, damning reports of abuse, and soon-to-be-implemented rules requiring for-profit programs to demonstrate their effectiveness. The fractures in a business model that has attracted some of the biggest names in investment have become more evident, especially when comparing previously robust enrollment numbers with the most recent figures. [More]
Current, Former Corinthian College Students On “Debt Strike” Plan To Meet With Gov’t Officials
By 3.30.15
Last month, we told you about the Corinthian 15, a group of current and former students at crumbling Corinthian College Inc.’s WyoTech, Heald College, and Everest University campuses who were refusing to pay their federal student loans in protest of the government’s support of the for-profit college company. Now that group has grown to what could be called the Corinthian 100+, and it’s made plans to take its case to several government agencies this week.
Can’t Pay Your Student Loans? In Some States It Might Cost You Your License To Drive Or Work
By 3.25.15
In addition to causing irreparable damage to their credit scores, student loan borrowers who default on their debts face a much more devastating and counter-intuitive danger: the lost of their driver’s or occupation licenses, including those used by nurses, doctors, teachers and emergency personnel [More]
Student Loan Borrower’s Bill Of Rights Would Reform Disclosure And Servicing Standards
By 3.24.15
In recent weeks, legislators have introduced a range of bills aimed at addressing student loans and revamping the laws governing those debts. Today, that push continued with the reintroduction of a bill that would ensure student borrowers are treated fairly and understand the range of options at their disposal. [More]
