Corinthian Colleges News Update: For-Profit System Announces it Will Shut Down and Sell U.S. Campuses
ByCorinthian Colleges Inc. will shut down and put up for sale 85 U.S.-based campuses in 11 different states as part of an agreement with the U.S. Education Department (ED).
According to the Associated Press, Corinthian will also close and sell about 12 campuses in Canada. Corinthian Colleges Inc. owned Everest College, Heald College and WyoTech schools and the closures are expected to affect about 3,400 of the system's 72,000 students.
CLICK HERE to read the agreement in full.
The closing campuses resided in the following states:
Bensalem, Pennsylvania; Chelsea, Massachusetts; Cross Lanes, West Virginia; Eagan, Minnesota; Fort Worth, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Merrillville, Indiana; Salt Lake City, Utah; St. Louis; Silver Spring, Maryland; and McLean, Virginia.
The ED put Corinthian Inc. on notice in March, as the Obama Administration proposed regulations meant to punish for-profit colleges across the nation that buried its students in debt without adequately preparing them for after graduation. The ED then found evidence that Corinthian Inc. was providing prospective students with falsified job placement data.
For failure to comply or to provide adequate documentation, the ED sought to punish Corinthian Colleges by freezing federal funds. Under the agreement, Corinthian's various schools will give their students the option to finish their programs, entitling them to a refund.
However, students like Hope Pryor, a Houston resident that attends Everest University online, told the Los Angeles Times she has to hear a straight answer in regards to her financial aid or transfer credits. She said she would rather have the refund than a transfer at this point.
"I've called and gotten six different answers from people, and it's never a straight answer," Pryor said. "It's like they're playing with my life.
"I'm pretty much wasting $4,500-plus... It's not going to be worth anything in the long run."