http://qz.com/551427/charged-with-fraud-and-deceit-one-of-the-uss-biggest-for-profit-colleges-is-paying-out-95-million/“Operating essentially as a recruitment mill, EDMC’s actions were not only a violation of federal law but also a violation of the trust placed in them by their students—including veterans and working parents—all at taxpayer expense,” Loretta Lynch, US attorney general, said of the settlement.
EDMC is the US’s second-largest for-profit college chain. Eight years ago, two ex-employees alleged that the company illicitly paid enrollment-based bonuses to its recruiters, pressured students to enroll regardless of their qualifications (breaking rules that prevent schools from pushing students into loans to boost revenue), and lied to the government about these actions to receive federal money. In 2011, the US Department of Justice hopped onto the lawsuit as well.
The company, which operates 110 campuses under the names South University, Argosy University, the Art Institutes and Brown-Mackie College, has more than 100,000 students across the country. According to the settlement, the company promises to be more transparent with its students, forgive the debts of those who enrolled for fewer than 45 days from 2006 to 2014, and record all telephone and online conversations with prospective students. Nowhere in the settlement does EDMC admit to any wrongdoing.
