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Julie B
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Students Awarded $2.3 Million From For-Profit Schools
Kaplan Career Institute and Lincoln Technical Institute in Massachusetts settled a lawsuit with the Attorney General’s office over unfair practices performed at the institutions. According to the Boston Globe, both schools will pay former students over two million dollars due to their recruiting practices and inaccurate job placement numbers after graduation.
Attorney General Maura Healey stated, “We allege these for-profit schools lured hopeful students into enrolling in their vocational programs by promising certain careers, but only left them with substantial debt. Students trying to better their lives through education are instead being left financially ruined. These settlements will provide the relief these students deserve and prevent deceptive practices that put taxpayer dollars at risk.”
The Attorney General’s office had been investigating multiple schools that were operated by these companies and realized that they were inaccurately reporting a 70% job placement rate among graduates. The Attorney General’s office also alleged that Kaplan Higher Education, which owned Kaplan Career Institute, only offered public resources for job opportunities instead of independent services for students looking for a job. The company was not found to be in the wrong however, they settled the case because of potential litigation costs. They will be responsible for paying former students of the medical vocational programs $1.375 million.
Lincoln Educational Services owns Lincoln Technical Institute and they will be paying $850,000 to the graduates of the criminal justice program that were offered at the Somerville and Lowell campuses. They will also need to forgive $165,000 in private student loans. The Attorney General found that they were using retail jobs in their after graduation job placement numbers as well as contacting potential students at least 7 times within a couple of days in order to convince them to enroll at the institution.
Lincoln Educational Services gave a statement to the Boston Globe, “Full disclosure and transparency require a level playing field. We look forward to the day that all post secondary institutions…are held to the same standards.” They believe that for-profit institutions are held to a higher standard than other colleges.
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