The Dept. of Ed Got It Right—Now It’s Time to Act for Students

On April 14, the Department of Education announced that after investigating Heald College, it found nearly 1,000 instances in which Heald lied to students about its graduates’ employment prospects. In one example, Heald claimed 100% of graduates were working in their field when in fact only 40% of grads had jobs. The Department will fine Heald College nearly $30 million and has notified that school that it must halt enrollment at all Heald campuses. Read the Department’s announcement here.

We applaud the Department for using its authority to crack down on an industry that for too long has taken advantage of students who were just trying to get an education.  But we know these kinds of lies are not unique to Heald College, and we hope the Department continues to penalize lawbreaking institutions.

But most of all—it’s time to act for students. The Department’s findings confirm that students who went to Corinthian Colleges were tricked into wasting their time and money at a fraudulent school. All students that were defrauded by Corinthian deserve a complete refund on their federal student loans. At the very least, the Department must allow current students who enrolled at Heald to withdraw from the school and receive a full refund.

We hope the Department’s latest action against Heald is a sign that it is ready to act for students.