Many for-profit college chains recruited students through ads touting exceedingly high job-placement rates, but as we’ve seen from the recent collapses of chains like Corinthian Colleges Inc. and ITT Tech, those placement statistics can be artificially inflated. This week, for-profit educator DeVry Education Group agreed to be more honest and transparent about the job-placement claims in its ads and recruitment materials. [More]
Education
Digital Textbook Codes Mean No Selling Used Books, Higher Prices
By 9.23.16
While the price of course materials has fallen overall, there’s one specific course material that’s pricey and possibly unexpected. Digital content codes give students access to materials like quizzes, study materials and digital-only extra books, but much like digital music or ebooks, they can’t be exchanged or resold. That means publishers set the price, and there’s no secondary market. [More]
ITT Tech Students: Don’t Pay For Loan Consolidation, Discharge, Or Transfer Help
By 9.7.16
They say one person’s misfortune is another’s gain, but the Department of Education doesn’t want that to be the case for tens of thousands of students affected by ITT Educational Services’ closure of 130 ITT Technical Institute campuses, no matter how good the deal sounds. [More]
Loan Discharges, Transferring Credits: What ITT Tech Students Need To Know
By 9.7.16
Nearly 40,000 now-former ITT Technical Institute students are now left picking up the pieces after the for-profit college operator abruptly closed all 130 of its campuses this week. The Department of Education wants to help those students to be aware of all options — and to avoid getting pulled in by shady offers that are too good to be true.
[More]
Now That ITT Tech Is Closed, What Options Do Students Have?
By 9.6.16
Nearly 40,000 students have been left in educational limbo following the sudden closure of all 130 ITT Tech campuses. What options are available to these stranded students who have invested their time and money in a shuttered school?
Amazon No Longer Marketing Private Student Loans To Prime Members
By 8.31.16
Just a month after Amazon announced it would partner with Wells Fargo to offer Prime members a discount on private student loans, nearly all traces of the criticized program have disappeared. [More]
For-Profit College Operator Sues Feds After Non-Profit Status Rejected
By 8.31.16
Earlier this month, the Department of Education denied non-profit status to a chain of for-profit career colleges, accusing the schools’ operators of trying to avoid accountability with the switch. This week, the Center for Excellence in Higher Education fired back, suing the Department, alleging the government has a political agenda of putting career schools out of business. [More]
California Bars ITT Tech From Enrolling New Students
By 8.29.16
A day after federal regulators barred ITT Education Services from enrolling new students using financial aid at its ITT Technical campuses, a California regulator prohibited the education operator from enrolling all new students at its 15 schools in the state. [More]
ITT Tech Banned From Enrolling New Students Using Federal Financial Aid
By 8.25.16
And just like that the foundation of ITT Education Services is beginning to crumble. Today, the Department of Education took a series of actions that bans the company behind the for-profit chain of ITT Technical Institutes from enrolling new students using federal financial aid funds. [More]
Wells Fargo Must Pay $4M Over Allegedly Illegal Student Loan Servicing
By 8.22.16
For the last 10 months, it’s been one of the banking industry’s worst-kept secrets that Wells Fargo’s student loan servicing business was being investigated by federal regulators. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed these rumors and ordered Wells to pay more than $4 million in refunds and penalties over allegedly illegal loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain borrowers. [More]
Feds: For-Profit College Chain Can’t Switch To Non-Profit To Avoid Accountability
By 8.11.16
The Department of Education has denied non-profit status to a chain of for-profit career colleges, accusing the schools’ operators of trying to avoid accountability.
[More]
NJ Student Loan Agency Tells Staff To Only Offer Help When Explicitly Asked
By 7.28.16
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that your cable company has perks or discounts it will only reveal when asked, but you’d hope a government agency wouldn’t deliberately hide a program intended to help families struggling to pay off student loan debts of a deceased loved one. [More]
New Rules Aim To Regulate Online College Programs
By 7.25.16
Colleges offering distance education, such as online courses, must receive authorization from each state where it has students in order to receive federal financial aid, according to recently released rules that aim to better regulate the online education industry and ensure students understand what protections they have when attending a college in another state. [More]
Amazon & Wells Fargo Hope That A Partnership And Discounts Will Entice You Into A Private Student Loan
By 7.21.16
Pay $99/year — or $10/month — for an Amazon Prime membership and you’ll get a slew of benefits like free two-day shipping on thousands of items, free streaming Prime video access, and more. Soon, college-aged members will also be eligible for a 0.50% interest rate discount on new loans. [More]
New Guidelines Aim To Improve Customer Service, Enhance Protections On Federal Student Loans
By 7.20.16
The fact that two-thirds of college-bound students who take out loans to finance their higher education have little to no idea what they’re agreeing to, doesn’t mean these borrowers shouldn’t receive adequate protection from unscrupulous loan servicing companies. New guidelines from a pair of federal agencies are aimed at ensuring student loan borrowers get the service and protection they deserve. [More]
Former Corinthian College Students Sue To Have Private Loans Discharged
By 7.14.16
As the Department of Education is working to wipe away millions of dollars in federal loans owed by former students of now-defunct Corinthian College Inc. schools, some former students continue to receive monthly bills for private loans they took out in order to attend the for-profit colleges. Now one former Corinthian student has filed a federal class action against the financial firms that currently hold the private student loans. [More]
For-Profit Educator Bridegepoint Education Under Investigation Over Federal Funding
By 7.13.16
Bridgepoint Education, the operator of for-profit colleges Ashford University and the University of the Rockies, added its name to the long list of higher education companies to find themselves on the receiving end of a federal investigation, as the Department of Justice has opened a probe into the organization’s federal student aid funding. [More]
