I was a share holder for a while. Thankfully no longer.in the event that you are looking at this school, you need to know about it's recent history.
Controversies
The United States Department of Education conducted a 2003 Program Review of Collins College and found several serious problems with the school's administration of federal financial aid programs including: "many students failed to meet the attendance threshold...[and that the College's] practice of not considering failed courses as part of the [cumulative GPA] at the time that students fail the course... May... Be falsely permitting those students to remain eligible for Title IV disbursements"[5] and "Collins College had used "a coordinated subterfuge to under-report the effect" of federal financial aid dollars disbursed in order to show compliance with the so-called 90/10 Rule." [6][7] The issues with Collins College were a major contributing factor to the Department of Education's 2005 decision to prohibit its parent company, Career Education Corporation from expanding, [8] a prohibition that was lifted in 2007.[9]
(from wikipedia)
And also, a shareholders complaint filed with the SEC.
Http://www.secinfo.com/dRSm6. V1bd.htm
A few excerpts:
"STEVE BOSTIC
Wachovia Plaza
P.O. Box 31046
Sea Island, Georgia 31561
May 10
Dear Fellow Stockholder,
At Career Education Corporation's Annual Meeting next week on May 18, you have a critical decision to make. CEC can continue down its current path, which
has led to multiple regulatory investigations, shareholder lawsuits and, of gravest concern, the looming potential loss of the accreditation of American InterContinental University (AIU) by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) - or you can take the first step towards restoring the company on
a path to greater profitability and value for stockholders."
"There is a complete disconnect between management's rhetoric and what is actually occurring on a day-to-day basis at CEC's institutions. Jack Larson has trumpeted 2006 as "the year of the graduate, " and he claims that CEC makes "student success" a top priority. For some time, we have been asking management for information on graduation and drop-out rates, but they have refused to give it to us or the investment community. But just recently we received a copy of an internal CEC drop report, which is part of the pleadings in a pending class action suit, and that report states that 96,388 students dropped out of CEC programs in the first quarter of a recent reporting period - a number approaching CEC's total student population!"
"To make the numbers, students have been enrolled several weeks after classes began. Other students wanting to take only one or two isolated courses have been pressured into signing up for full programs, in order to generate higher full-time student metrics. Admissions representatives have been asked to sign up
themselves, family members and friends, just long enough to be included in enrollment figures. Dropped students have been induced to re-enroll with the promise of bogus scholarships, forgiveness of institutional loans and token gifts. Along with this push for high numbers has come widespread late and inaccurate reporting of true enrollment status to the federal National Student
Loan Database System, a finding made by a 2003 U.S. Department of Education (DOE) review of CEC's COLLINS COLLEGE IN TEMPE, Arizona, internal CEC audits of
other CEC colleges, and annual compliance audits."
"Along with misrepresentations to CEC students, the
DOE has accused CEC of misrepresenting information to it about federal financial aid awarded to CEC students, including a 2003 program review finding that Collins College had used "a coordinated subterfuge to under-report the effect" of federal financial aid dollars disbursed in order to show compliance with the
so-called 90/10 Rule and also a 2006 program review finding that CEC's Pennsylvania Culinary Institute had improperly retained $469,000 of federal aid for students who had failed to actually attend classes, withdrawn or gone on leaves of absence."
They are still in business, so many issues seemed to have been changed.
I ask you to consider, would this type of behavior ever change unless they were threatened? If they did this in the past, what might they do to you tomorrow?
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