Now-defunct Corinthian Colleges is facing another lawsuit alleging their scheme of targeting homeless and those with low self-esteem students. The suit says that they forced students to avail federal loans they couldn't pay back.
In a report by Pro Publica, the website claimed that Corinthian Colleges recruited homeless students and helped them get federal loans that they couldn't pay. The report showed support documents and testimonies filed by California's Attorney General against the country's second largest chain of for-profit colleges. The report also alleged that Corinthian Colleges also targeted those with low-self esteem and few base hits. The website also exposed the college's advertising of programs that actually didn't exist. It also alleged that the college forced the students to get loans from the bank that it had private financial ties.
One testimony came from homeless Hollie Harsh who said that Corinthian Colleges forcefully recruited her and her fiancé Brian French to enroll and promised future employment, according to Business Insider. She claimed that she owe the college $15,000 in debt. "We had to complete all of our studies and homework in the Heald Campus computer lab as we had no electricity in our tent," she said. "I do not know how I will ever be able to replay this student loan," she said in her statement. "I now believe that I was taken advantage of and given false hope by [Corinthian] just so that I would enroll in their school."
The complaint against Corinthian Colleges also includes its aggressive debt collection scheme to oblige students to pay their loans. The Corinthian Colleges' employees reportedly were barring students from entering into the campus or were pulling students out of their class to force them to pay debts. Corinthian Colleges also lied about job placements to the government, students and investors. New graduates claimed that they find it hard to find work.
"I graduated in April at the top of my class, with honors," said Shane Satterfield, a roofer in Georgia who now owes more than $30,000 in debt for the associate's degree in computer science he completed last year, Legal Reader reported. "And I can't get a job paying over $8.50 an hour."
The next trial for Corinthian Colleges is set for March 22. It is undecided yet if the college is going to pay compensation and civil penalties to the students.
