Lately, somebody filed a Freedom of Info Act (FOIA) request with the U.S. Division of Schooling. What number of Borrower Protection claims have college students filed towards the College of Phoenix (UP), the requester requested, and the way have been these claims resolved?
DOE’s FOIA Service Heart zipped again a reply, and the response is fascinating. Greater than 69,000 UP college students filed Borrower Protection claims towards the for-profit faculty over the previous seven years. Virtually 20,000 of those claims have been denied, and ZERO have been permitted.
Borrower Protection claims are complaints filed by college students with DOE claiming that their faculty misled them ultimately concerning the training the faculty offered. For instance, the faculty would possibly give false details about:
[T]he transferability of credit, job placement charges, completion and withdrawal charges, graduates’ future incomes potential, profession companies, the price of attendance, the quantity of federal pupil assist, and accreditation standing . . . .
If DOE concludes {that a} pupil’s criticism is legitimate, it would cancel that pupil’s federal faculty loans.
President Biden’s DOE has been receptive to Borrower Protection claims and has canceled virtually $14 billion in pupil money owed owed by 890,000 folks who attended for-profit schools.
In Candy v. Cardona, DOE settled a category motion swimsuit by granting debt aid to 200,000 college students who attended greater than 150 for-profit schools. The price of the settlement was $6 billion.
A number of well-known for-profit colleges have been named in that settlement, together with DeVry College, Grand Canyon College, and Walden College. The College of Phoenix was omitted. Why?
Maybe as a result of UP is owned by Apollo International Administration and the Vistria Group, two non-public fairness companies with necessary political connections.
Marty Nesbitt is the co-CEO of Vistria. He’s a detailed private good friend of President Obama and served as treasurer for Obama’s 2008 presidential marketing campaign. At present, he’s the chair of the Obama Basis, which is answerable for planning the Obama Presidential Heart.
Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo International Administration, considerably contributes to each Democratic and Republican politicians. In accordance with a 2021 article, Apollo has made $16 million in political
contributions since 1990 and spent $34 million on lobbyists since 1998 (citing OpenSecrets.org).
Then again, maybe the College of Phoenix has by no means misled anybody or misrepresented something over the previous seven years. That may clarify why 69,000 college students or former college students filed Borrower Protection claims towards UP since 2016, and none have been declared legitimate by DOE.
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| Marty Nesbitt, co-CEO of the Vistria Group |
