Posted on 08/21/2010 6:39:19 AM PDT by inflorida
A for-profit college is facing a lawsuit filed on behalf of students who say the school ripped them off. It's the latest in a series of hits the for-profit higher education industry has taken recently.
Earlier this month, investigators showed members of Congress that some schools use high-pressure sales tactics and deceptive marketing to lure students.
Krystle Bernal, 25, says that was her experience at Denver-based Westwood College. Bernal is one of the lead plaintiffs in the class action suit.
In 2005, Bernal vowed to become the first in her family to get a bachelor's degree. She met with a representative of Westwood College who, she says, acted more like a salesperson than an adviser.
"I was really hesitant — she could tell — and she just told me, like, 'I don't think you want to better your life. I don't think you want to better your future. If you can't commit to this, you can't commit to school,' " recounts Bernal.
Bernal says she was told that with a fashion merchandising degree from Westwood, she'd pull down a $65,000 salary after graduation in three years. The cost of the degree was a bit of a shock — $75,000 — but Westwood helped Bernal get federal student loans.
Two years after graduating, the only work she can find is a $12 per hour, part-time job as a bank teller.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I’m hoping she goes for a doctorate in underwater basket weaving. That will really boost her job prospects!
There are so many kids that simply should not be in college; however, do not know what else to do. We need to recreate an appreticeship path for many high school students. (But not controlled by unions.)
Will buyer beware come into play. or is that over too.
This little play is being performed right here in my family. My step daughter who decided she did not need to waste her time in high school because she could drop out and then get an equilivancy degree. She then decided she needed a culinary degree of some kind and enrolled in the local community college but their hours of operation did not coincide with her schedule...seems they had 9AM classes. So she dropped out of that. She then convinced my wife to withdraw her pre paid college tuition program, that which remained after the cullinary disaster, so she could enroll in a new program for “dog handler” at some private “school.” Frankly, I never knew one needed a two years to learn how to pick up dog crap. Anyway, she is now completed with the at home portion of the program (right, on line which is a further scam) and cannot decide whether she wants to do the “hands on” part of the program. It is easy to say all the schooling after leaving high school was fraudulently pushed on her, however, both she and her mom were complicit dupes. Were I on any of these juries, no award, next case.
The problem of course is that before student loans were not dischargable through bankruptcy, people would get a free education and then welch on the debt using bankruptcy.
From what I know, people who welch on their student loans now can only quit the country if they want to escape their debts. Their tax refunds are routinely yanked if they are delinquent.
With guarantee repayment, the loaning authority does not need to worry so much about A) the school, and B) the ability of the student to repay the loan.
While it is true that some would take advantage of the situation, it is also true we are now creating indenture servants.
My question would be, is a contract valid if one party deceives the other? I guess the courts are going to have to decide.
Second, if you are so concerned about “deadbeats” then do away with bankruptcy and open up debtor prisons again. That should make you happy.
If it's your cup of tea, merchandising is a pretty good career, but it's a cut-throat industry. The article doesn't say, but if she assumed she could make a good living as a fashion merchandising expert in Denver, she's sorely mistaken; you'd have to be willing to relocate to a place like New York City.
I bet she is still living at home. Correct?
I’m sure you wait with baited breath to hear the blame game start when your daughter realizes she has been conned.
What do you think her next move will be after blaming everyone except herself?
A job in the Obama administration?
I agree with your general idea but the problem is that this situation is no different than any other in which someone who buys something chooses to not make an informed decision about said purchase beforehand, with borrowed money.
I see the problem she is white “No degree for you” as you are not one of the exclusive get a free pass class.
Hey that is my wife’s major.
Other than for kicking around in a lousy JCPenneys sales job for a few years, she has never used the degree. We got married when she was a Junior, and I begged her to get teaching certification. She didn’t. I still wish that she had. Even a substitute teaching job would help alot. She already volunteers at the middle school when they do clothing. She could just as easily get paid.
And, WHY NOT? Is Government Motors exempt from negligence lawsuits because its owned by us?
Half of all the public universities should just be shut down and their campuses turned into nursing homes.
TAX TENURE. Seriously, it's an asset that the slacker monasteries own. Tax the asset of a guaranteed job, or do away with tenure entirely. It's ridiculous that any public institution should guarantee anyone a job.
Sounds like she had insufficient advisement. Her family couldn’t give her experiential input; her friends are probably in a similar situation. I recently met a 38yo who was sorely misinformed about the job market.
They need mentoring badly.
Grandson #1 frequently asks us for input re: education, majors, purchasing decisions, reading recommendations, etc. We’re usually at a loss if he asks for specifics re: job market.
Most school districts allow sub teacher that have a degree - any degree, maybe she could look into that.
Teaching sux right now. Locally TUSD (Tucson) just cut sub pay from $125/day to $75/day. You do have to prove you can speak English though - for now.
It seems that the bottom-feeding diploma mill scammers are now bringing out the bottom-feeding lawyers seeking to line their own pockets with the huge legal fees that a class action would mean.
From your link:
The arbitrator's ruling relied on a U.S. Supreme Court decision. "Let's be clear. This was an attempt by a class action firm to reap large fees through class arbitration," Westwood attorney Peter Homer said.
The bottom line is that our tax dollars were, once again, scammed.
Forget the private attornies seeking huge legal fees. Have public prosecutors prove their case of fraud. Get a conviction. Get a long prison sentence. End of story.
Sue them for teaching garbage like “queer studies” “women’s studies” “White racism” and other nonsense that doesn’t help anyone get a job.
That's the problem right there. If the government didn't support these scams they wouldn't be around. Stupid people seeking useless degrees would be on their own.
I agree with you (and I’m a professor). The plaintiff would have been better served by working in a store, maybe becoming assistant manager (not difficult if you show up everyday and show some interest). I have relatives in retail management. Even in this economy, people can be promoted up to assistant.
Also, some community colleges offer fashion merchandising or retail management degrees. She would have more use from a cheap 2 yr degree than that useless $75,000 piece of paper she paid for. Also, if she ever wanted to go to a regular college or grad school, few if any of her credits will be accepted. She might have to start all over.
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