Students who took out loans to attend for-profit colleges are defaulting on their loans at a significantly higher rate than students who attended regular universities, for three basic reasons. First, for-profit colleges are generally more expensive than nearby public colleges which offer equivalent degrees and certificates. Second, the quality of education is generally poor. Many graduates can’t find decent-paying jobs in their field of study. Third, many graduating students are left with a massive amount of student loan debt which they can’t pay and can’t discharge in bankruptcy.

Many for-profit colleges use deceptive marketing, predatory recruitment practices and high-pressure sales tactics to convince students to enroll. In 2010, the General Accounting Office (GAO) sent undercover investigators to 15 for-profit colleges who pretended they were applying to the school. According to the GAO,  officials at all 15 schools made “made deceptive or otherwise questionable statements” to the investigators, while representatives at 4 schools encouraged them to “falsify their financial aid forms to qualify for federal aid.” The GAO also found that many of these schools exaggerated how much students would earn after they graduated, falsely represented graduation rates, misled students about tuition, fees and costs and made false or misleading representations about their accreditation.

Alarmed by these predatory activities, the Dept. of Education under President Obama formed a special team to investigate widespread abuse and deception by for-profit colleges (the team was formed after the 2016 collapse of Corinthian Colleges). Unfortunately, the DOE under President Trump is now reassigning the members of that team and significantly narrowing the scope of its investigation. The Department is also refusing to share its data on for-profit colleges with the states, making it harder for state attorney generals to crack down on the for-profit colleges operating in their state.

If you attended a for-profit college and can’t find a job in your field of study, or you’re  struggling to pay your student loans, I may be able to help. The practices described above violate the Massachusetts consumer protection law and are grounds for a private lawsuit. If you contact me, I can review your situation and we can go over what options you may have.

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