Five students of Globe University have filed a class-action lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court against the school and its allied partner, Minnesota School of Business.
One current and four former students on Globe's Woodbury and Sioux Falls campuses filed the suit for misleading them about its accreditation standards, job placement rates, transfer opportunities to other institutions, post-graduation prospects and starting salaries of graduates.
The lawsuit stated that the university used false and over-hyped advertising to recruit students, and 'lies about, and/or obscures the truth about its inferior accreditation, which ... causes employers to reject its graduates,' quoted in Star Tribune.
The plaintiffs said that they received false information from both the University's advertisements and enrollment staff.
The lawsuit blames the university for leaving students 'deep in debt but without the credits, degrees or professional opportunities defendants promised,' reports the Twin Cities. It further claims that the university's marketing practices infringe the state's consumer fraud and false advertising laws.
"Most of the people that we represent have paid Globe tens of thousands of dollars, and they are unable to find jobs using their education, unable to transfer their credits," Scott Carlson, attorney for Halunen and Associates, told Inforum. "Every dollar they paid to Globe was a waste, and they ought to get it back."
"We kept hearing the same stories from the students who contacted us. I talked to enough of them that I am confident our claims are very solid," Carlson told Twin Cities.
Halunen and Associates is the firm representing the students.
"This is unfortunate and we are saddened that these students chose to handle their concerns in this way," Naomi McDonald,a Globe spokeswoman, told Inforum. "Lawsuit aside, as a college you never want to hear that a student is unhappy with their education.
"Although it is disappointing that even one student has something unfavorable to say about our schools, we know the sentiment of these five individuals does not reflect all, and we will not allow it to cast a black eye on the thousands of students proud to be a member of our schools. We have been committed to student success for decades and will do whatever it takes to protect our students, schools and those working hard every day to support both."
Sarah Beck of Sioux Falls, S.D., one of the former students, told the Star Tribune that at the time of her enrollment in the university, she was told that the school was fully accredited and that credits would be easily transferable to any university. However, she faced difficulty in transferring credits after graduating from the health care management program in 2010 with more than $41,000 in student loans.
"When she tried to transfer her credits to three other postsecondary institutions, all of them rejected Globe's credits, saying Globe's health care management program is unaccredited," the lawsuit said, quoted in Star Tribune. "These degrees are nearly worthless."
