Huffington Post: Predatory Lender or 'Premier' Chain of Career Colleges?

[swarmster]

This for-profit college was lending money to high-risk students at 18% interest and had a debt collection agency servicing the loans. Absolutely INSANE! Now they're being sued by the Minnesota Attorney General for it.

This past March, Swanson amended her consumer fraud lawsuit she filed against Globe University and Minnesota School of Business last July, to now include two additional counts: Unlicensed Lending and Usury. These two additional charges specifically involve the schools' EdOp and StA loans. As stated in her lawsuit, "Defendants engage in unlicensed lending, charge usurious interest rates, and take aggressive action against students who fall behind on their institutional loan payments; preventing students from completing the program in which they are enrolled." Swanson also asserts that these loans are "void" and "students are under no obligation to pay any amount owing and are entitled to recover all amounts paid."

The lawsuit states that nearly 6,000 Globe University and Minnesota School of Business students used these high-interest loans to finance their education since the schools began offering the loans in 2009. However, archived screen shots from EdOpLoan.com show evidence that the schools may have actually been offering their institutional loans to students since 2007. The case is set to go to trial in November of this year, and so far Swanson has received complaints from more than 100 former students. I compiled a database of complaints from former students against the schools listed in the lawsuit (below), many of which are truly heartbreaking.

Aside from the institutional loans, other complaints from students include the lack of job placement assistance, credits not transferring, the high cost of programs, numerous cases of deceptive practices used by financial aid employees and admissions staff, and multiple cases of employees changing job-placement numbers which were submitted to the school's accrediting agency. Students also reported that they were encouraged to rely on the financial aid staff, but the financial aid representatives "hurried them through the financial aid process leaving them unsure of what they were signing and uninformed about the financial obligations that would result from enrolling..." Some students even reported that the financial aid staff even "took control of their student loan applications and rushed them through the application process."

The lawsuit from Swanson is not the only legal issue Globe University and Minnesota School of Business have faced in recent years. Since 1986, these schools have been sued multiple times for similar allegations. Most recently, former students filed a lawsuit against the schools for misleading them about job placement rates, starting salaries, program accreditation, and the ability to transfer to other schools.

The schools also recently found themselves on the losing end of two other lawsuits involving former deans of the schools, who sued for wrongful termination after blowing the whistle on wrongdoing. Former Globe University dean, Heidi Weber accused Globe of falsifying job placement numbers, violating accreditation standards, and misleading students. Her case proved to be a crushing defeat for Globe University and Minnesota, which were forced to pay her nearly $400,000 in her wrongful termination case. The second dean, sued Minnesota School of Business, accusing the school of exaggerating job placement numbers and inflating graduation rates.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-mccarthy/payday-lender-or-premier-_b_7806862.html