In yet another episode in the ongoing investigations of for-profit colleges, the U.S. Department of Education and California's attorney general say Corinthian Colleges consistently misled students enrolled at two campuses about their chances of getting a job.
The findings refer to Corinthian's Everest and Wyotech campuses in California as well as Everest online programs, based in Florida. For an accounting program in Brandon, Fla., in 2010, the published placement rate was 92 percent. The true rate, according to the findings released Tuesday, was 12 percent. For a medical assistant diploma program in West Los Angeles in 2012, the advertised rate was 85 percent. The true employment rate? Zero.
Corinthian Colleges was forced to sell or close all of its programs after government actions early last year and ceased operations in April. These findings are important because they provide documentation that students were actively defrauded.
This will help make more of the colleges' students eligible for debt relief.
"Corinthian preyed on vulnerable students who are now buried under mountains of student debt," California Attorney General Kamala Harris said Tuesday. "I thank the Department of Education for joining my office to keep Corinthian accountable for their actions and providing debt relief to students."
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