In Lawsuit, Students Claim College Deceived Them

NPR ^ | August 21, 2010 | Jeff Brady

[inflorida]

A for-profit college is facing a lawsuit filed on behalf of students who say the school ripped them off. It's the latest in a series of hits the for-profit higher education industry has taken recently.

Earlier this month, investigators showed members of Congress that some schools use high-pressure sales tactics and deceptive marketing to lure students.

Krystle Bernal, 25, says that was her experience at Denver-based Westwood College. Bernal is one of the lead plaintiffs in the class action suit.

In 2005, Bernal vowed to become the first in her family to get a bachelor's degree. She met with a representative of Westwood College who, she says, acted more like a salesperson than an adviser.

"I was really hesitant — she could tell — and she just told me, like, 'I don't think you want to better your life. I don't think you want to better your future. If you can't commit to this, you can't commit to school,' " recounts Bernal.

Bernal says she was told that with a fashion merchandising degree from Westwood, she'd pull down a $65,000 salary after graduation in three years. The cost of the degree was a bit of a shock — $75,000 — but Westwood helped Bernal get federal student loans.

Two years after graduating, the only work she can find is a $12 per hour, part-time job as a bank teller.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Meanwhile, all the art history, womens’ studies, French literature, etc. majors who got degrees from traditional colleges have high-paying jobs and have no student loan debt whatsoever!”

Because they all got into Law School.

[APFel]

Private colleges are NOT the problem.

When I was just about to graduate from a state four year school, one of my peers went on a rant about how he was completely unemployable.

While in class.

I received my degree in English rhetoric. He got his in literature. That distinction is irrelevant. We were both English majors at a state school.

I am employed. I’d bet a lot of money that the idiot I mentioned above is not.

At this point, a diploma is a blip on a resume. A student must know HOW TO BE EMPLOYABLE. The degree, in other words, means squat. Learn how to write a damned resume. Make yourself employable. You have the degree, but are you accountable and competent?

Many are not.

APf

[annieokie]

Something I learned while renting one of my units. Sec 8 will pay 100% of the rent as long as the tenant is in school or college, then they can also work and make as much as they want.

So: apply for the grant, get on Sec 8 housing, food stamps, free phone, get a job as well, life is good. Great to be in America will all the benefits one wants.

Of course, they never have to pay the grant loan back, and they never use the degree, (if they ever get one), mostly in cosmetology, lol.