New Bill Attempts to Protect Vets From Unscrupulous For-Profit Colleges

Legislation introduced this week in Washington, D.C. aims to close a loophole that encourages unscrupulous for-profit colleges from taking advantage of military veterans in enrollment practices.
The Military and Veterans Education Protection Act would discontinue the current practice of allowing GI Bill funds and other defense-related education programs from being counted as "private funding" by for-profit schools, which are required to have at least 10 percent of their revenue from private sources.  Due to the loophole, unscrupulous for-profit schools target veterans in an effort to lure them to enroll in their programs, thereby helping the schools' satisfy their 10-percent requirement.
A host of Democratic Senators introduced the bill this week in the U.S. Senate, including Sen Al Franken (D-Minn), Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), Sen. Tom Casper (D-Del.), and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).  A report on the bill can be read here.
Deceptive enrollment practices are a chronic problem in the for-profit school industry.  If you have a concern about a for-profit school and its tactics, share it at www.forprofitschoolwatchdog.net.

California shuts down nursing school over accreditation

State of California regulators have shut down a for-profit school over allegations of false accreditation and other improprieties.  According to a recent news report, the Institute for Medical Education was closed on February 15, 2012 after California regulators "determined it had deceived students enrolled in programs such as dental hygiene, nursing and other medical fields."
The Googasian Firm, P.C., a law firm in Michigan that has represented thousands of students harmed by for-profit schools, is commencing an investigation of the closing.  For further information on The Googasian Firm's efforts against for-profit schools, visit here. The firm has served as class counsel in numerous class actions against for-profit schools, and it recently filed a lawsuit against the Palm Beach Institute of Technology regarding claims pertaining to its lack of accreditation.  For additional information on the Palm Beach Institute of Technology case, click here.
If you have a concern abut the Institute for Medical Education or another for-profit school that you wish to share with a Googasian Firm attorney, call 1-877-540-8333 or click here.

Columnist: "Beware of For-Profit Schools"

An editorial in the Belvoir Eagle urges the public to "beware of for-profit schools," where enrollment has risen dramatically in the past decade.  Joyce M. Peterson writes:

For-profit schools are educational institutions operated by private seeking businesses. There are many categories of for-profit schools but the ones that Soldiers, Family members and Department of Defense civilians should be aware of are post-secondary institutions which employ deceptive marketing tactics by refusing to disclose total tuition cost and fees to prospective students before they enroll with the school; enticing students to take out student loans even when the applicant already has enough financial assistance. These schools promise extravagant, unlikely high pay to students after graduating and over-flood the market with advertisements in newspapers, the internet, radio and television.

If you have concerns about a for-profit school's practices, share your views with attorneys at The Googasian Firm by submitting your concerns here.

TV investigation probes Belford High School

KHOU's investigative unit, the I-Team, has broadcast a report on Belford High School, which operates out of Karachi, Pakistan.  The I-Team went to two addresses provided for Belford High School in Texas and found one of them to be an abandoned building and another to be a closed-down commercial mailbox store.  The president of Houston's Better Business Bureau criticizes Belford in the report as "classic con artistry."
Belford and its owner, Salem Kureshi, are defendants in a class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  The class of recipients of Belford diplomas on whose behalf the class action is being pursued are represented by The Googasian Firm, P.C.  For further information on the class action, click here.

For-Profit Schools Criticized for Treatment of Veterans

For-profit colleges are receiving new scrutiny for allegedly preying on veterans.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois will be holding a forum in Illinois this week and plans to introduce legislation aimed at curbing problems with aggressive recruiting of veterans due to the lucrative financial aid available through GI Bill funds and Department of Defense tuition assistance benefits.

The efforts by Senator Durbin come one week after the Illinois attorney general sued Westwood College, alleging that it misleads students enrolled in it criminal justice program.

Online Schools Lag In Performance in Michigan

A Michigan Public Radio report states that students at online schools in Michigan lag in performance on standardized tests when compared to students at traditional bricks-and-mortar schools.  According to the report:

"The National Education Policy Center found about 27 percent of online schools met federal achievement standards in the last school year. That compares to about 51 percent at brick-and-mortar schools.

"The study says the largest growing subgroup of public charter schools is virtual -- or online -- schools.

"Western Michigan University education professor Gary Miron co-authored the study.

"He says there are also questions about the accountability of for-profit charter schools that offer online education.

"'One of the issues that has been coming up is that many of these virtual schools enroll students, then these students don't actively participate,' Miron says. 'However, the school continues to receive money.'"

New Study Correlates For-Profit Schools With Higher Debt And Lower Employment

A new study, according to a report in the Huffington Post, links for-profit colleges to students with "much higher student-loan debts, lower employment rates, and lower pay than counterparts at public or private nonprofit schools.  The student by a group of Harvard researchers was prepared for the National Bureau of Economic Research.