The for-profit colleges settled charges that they took part in unfair practices, and now former students will receive compensation.
The two schools will end up paying out millions of dollars to students, and this will resolve claims of using unfair recruiting tactics. The schools also allegedly inflated job placement numbers in order to tempt students into enrolling at their schools.
The amount of money the schools will pay their former students is $2.3 million. Kaplan Higher Education, LLC., which owned Kaplan Career Institute, will pay $1.375 million to eligible people who graduated from its medical vocational programs. The Massachusetts attorney general’s office has been investigating the Kaplan Career Institute in Kenmore Square, in Boston, for more than three years.
The owner of Lincoln Technical Institute, Lincoln Educational Services, Inc. will pay people who graduated its criminal justice program in Lowell and Somerville $850,000, if graduates are eligible. $165,000 worth of private student loans will also be forgiven. The attorney general’s office discovered that students couldn’t find work in law enforcement and private security. On top of that, the school’s placement data included unrelated jobs, such a retail positions.
Both schools denied the attorney general’s allegation. Lincoln responded by saying they have been providing students with career-oriented skilled training for almost 70 years.
Kaplan maintained that it was compliant and working in the best interest of students. The school also said that graduates of its allied medical programs took jobs at a number of organizations, such as Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Kaplan also pointed out that the settlement terms specify that no part of the payment is considered to be a fine or penalty.
