Just a month after for-profit college operator ITT Education Services announced it had become the focus of a federal fraud investigation, the Department of Education revealed it had placed restrictions on ITT Technical Institute’s use of federal grants and loans. [More]
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More Trouble For ITT Education Services: Agency Restricts For-Profit’s Use Of Federal Student Aid
By 10.20.15
ITT Educational Services Target Of Federal Fraud Investigation
By 9.22.15
Things don’t appear to have gotten better for for-profit college operator ITT Educational Services since it announced in September 2014 that it was under increased scrutiny from federal regulators, as the owner of the ITT Technical Institute chain revealed on Monday that the Department of Justice is looking into whether the company defrauded the federal government. [More]
Are Pension Advance Companies The New Payday Loan Lender?
By 3.16.15
While many consumers who are short on cash between paychecks might seek help from the often predatory payday lending industry, more and more retirees are turning to their equivalent – pension advance lenders – when struggling to make ends meet, sometime with devastating results. [More]
Montel Williams-Endorsed MoneyMutual To Pay $2.1M Penalty
By 3.10.15
For years, TV personality Montel Williams has been the daytime TV face of payday loan lead generation service MoneyMutual, even as it faced investigations from federal and state agencies. Just a few days ago, Montel got into a Twitter spat with a woman who questioned why he was acting as a spokesperson the company, and showed that maybe he needed a refresher course on annual percentage rates. But as part of a deal with regulators in New York state, Montel will no longer market payday loans in the state and MoneyMutual will pay a $2.1 million penalty to settle allegations that it illegally marketed payday loans to New York residents. [More]
Faith V. Greed: The Battle Between Faith-Based Organizations And The Payday Loan Industry
By 3.10.15
“The Bible condemns gaining wealth through usury; and the writers of Scripture warn about gaining wealth through exploiting the poor… [but] The State of Alabama allows Payday lenders to charge an annual interest rate of 456%.” [More]
Banks & Credit Card Companies Saving Millions By Taking Away Your Right To Sue
By 3.10.15
Tens of millions of American consumers have clauses in their credit card, checking account, student loan, and wireless phone contracts that take away their rights to sue those companies in a court of law, and more than 93% of these people have no idea they’ve had this right taken away from them. The companies involved are presumably quite happy about this lack of awareness, as it results in millions of dollars in savings that aren’t being passed on to you. [More]
Missouri AG Shuts Down Eight Online Payday Lenders Operating From South Dakota Reservation
By 3.6.15
More than 6,300 Missouri residents will receive refunds or have their debts voided after the state’s attorney general reached an agreement with an online payday lender based on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota. [More]
Report: Taking For-Profit Colleges Nonprofit Can Generate Hefty Profits For Owners
By 3.3.15
Earlier this year Education Credit Management Corporation bought 56 campuses from embattled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges Inc. and took the schools to the nonprofit sector. While that conversion was initiated because of the ongoing collapse and financial problems facing CCI, other college chains have dropped the for-profit status seemingly to pick up hefty profits. [More]
Montel Williams Defends Hawking Payday Loan Generator Money Mutual
By 3.2.15
By now we know that celebrities (and pseudo-celebrities) often lend their names to products that may or may not have devastating effects on consumers. Of course, hawking a product for a paycheck doesn’t automatically make the spokesperson in question an expert on the product or the consequences of using it. [More]
Senators Chastise Govt. For Making Money Off Struggling Student Loan Borrowers, Not Offering Enough Relief
By 2.27.15
For several years now the government has offered federal student loan forgiveness programs aimed at helping borrowers to avoid defaulting on their debts. While recent reports have shown that the popularity of the programs has exceeded expectations, a group of six senators say the Department of Education could do more given the billions of dollars in payments it receives from federal loans each year. [More]
FTC Files Lawsuit To Shut Down Deceptive Payday Loan Debt Relief Operation
By 2.24.15
It’s probably safe to assume that consumers stuck in the payday loan debt-trap have enough financial issues without being deceived by a company promising to make their debts disappear. There may be one less unsavory debt relief company around after the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop an operation that targeted millions of consumers. [More]
Corinthian College’s Canadian Subsidiary Files For Bankruptcy A Week After Campuses Shut Down
By 2.24.15
Less than a week after the Ontario Education Ministry closed 14 Everest College campuses in the province, the Canadian subsidiary of for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. announced it had filed for bankruptcy. [More]
Current, Former Corinthian College Students Go On “Debt Strike,” Refuse To Pay Private & Federal Loans
By 2.24.15
With for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges Inc. selling off campuses and closing schools, thousands of Everest, WyoTech, and Heald College students are waiting to learn the fate of the more than $1 billion in private and federal student loan debt used to finance their education. While the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have worked to secure deals in which some of that debt will be forgiven, some students are increasing the pressure on such deals by staging a “debt strike.” [More]
Ontario Education Officials Close 14 Everest Campuses Amid Corinthian Colleges’ Downfall
By 2.19.15
If you thought the issues plaguing beleaguered for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. didn’t extend beyond the borders of the United States, then you were wrong. Some 2,400 students in Canada are now left to pick up the pieces after the Ministry of Education in Ontario announced it would shut down CCI-operated Everest College campuses in the province. [More]
California Halts Grants For Students At Corinthian’s Heald College Campuses
By 2.17.15
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.
[More]
Corinthian Colleges Inc. Expected To Be Delisted From Nasdaq Tuesday
By 2.13.15
Embattled for-profit college operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. — the company behind the Everest, WyoTech, and Heald College chains — is set to be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange Tuesday after it failed to meet a deadline to file quarterly earnings reports.
Should For-Profit Colleges Be Allowed To Spend Taxpayers’ Money To Put Their Names On NFL Stadiums?
By 2.5.15
This past Sunday — and for the second time in seven years — the Super Bowl was played at a stadium carrying the University of Phoenix name. The for-profit online school paid more than $150 million to slap its brand on the stadium, with much of that money coming from taxpayers. Some groups say that for-profit schools should not be allowed to make such splashy marketing investments at a time when there are so many questions about the quality of education provided by for-profit institutions. [More]
Senators Introduce Bill Mandating Formation Of For-Profit College Oversight Committee
By 2.5.15
Back in October, the Department of Education finalized a new rule: career colleges — those schools that offer specialized training programs for certain occpuations — would have to do a better job actually preparing students for gainful emplotment, or they’d lose access to federal student aid. As part of those standards, the DoE rule included the creation of an oversight group. Today, two senators introduced legislation to ensure the task force is providing useful information to policymakers, parents and students.
