Forty-eight attorneys general announced an agreement Thursday with for-profit education company Career Education Corp. to reform its recruiting and enrollment practices and offer debt relief of about $493.7 million to 179,529 students nationally.
CEC currently offers mostly online courses through American InterContinental University and Colorado Technical University. CEC has closed or phased out many of its schools over the past 10 years. They include Briarcliffe College, Brooks Institute, Brown College, Harrington College of Design, International Academy of Design & Technology, Le Cordon Bleu, Missouri College, and Sanford-Brown.
The agreement resolves a five-year investigation into allegations that CEC made misleading statements or failed to disclose information to prospective students on total costs, transferability of credits, program offerings, job placement rates, and other topics.
The attorney's general alleged that CEC pressured its employees to enroll students and engaged in fraudulent practices. As a result, students enrolled in CEC who wouldn’t have otherwise enrolled, couldn’t obtain professional licensure and were saddled with debts that they couldn’t repay or discharge. CEC denied the allegations but agreed to resolve the claims through a multi-state settlement.
“Many Nevadans spend hard-earned money and time to attain higher education degrees, and should be able to rely upon the representations of schools about the value of their degrees,” said Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt.
Under the agreement, CEC will provide debt relief to former students living in the states participating in the agreement. Nationally, the average individual debt relief is estimated to be about $2,750. CEC has also agreed to pay $5 million to the states.
The settlement also provides that CEC can’t make misrepresentations on accreditation, selectivity, graduation rates, placement rates, transferability of credit, financial aid, veterans’ benefits, or licensure requirements. In addition, CEC can’t enroll students in programs that don’t lead to state licensure when required for employment, or that, due to their lack of accreditation, won’t prepare graduates for jobs in their field. For programs that prepare graduates for some but not all jobs, CEC will be required to disclose that information to incoming students.
CEC will provide debt relief to students who either attended a CEC institution that closed before Jan. 1, 2019, or whose final day of attendance at American Intercontinental University or Colorado Technical University occurred on or before Dec. 31, 2013. Former students with debt relief eligibility questions can contact CEC.
