The Santa Ana-based Corinthian College network has been fined $30 million by the U.S. Department of Education for overstating job placement rates for graduates, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
The department found that the Corinthian’s Heald chain, based in San Francisco, misrepresented employment numbers to prospective students and the government.
A call for comment left with a Corinthian representative after regular business hours was not immediately answered.
An investigation found that Heald College paid temp agencies to hire its graduates to work on its own campuses for as little time as two days so that it could count those students as employed, according to the DOE.
“This should be a wake-up call for consumers across the country about the abuses that can exist within the for-profit college sector,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “We will continue to hold the career college industry accountable and demand reform for the good of students and taxpayers. And we will need Congress to join us in that effort.”
The DOE said Heald failed to disclose that its placement rates counted those students whose employment began prior to graduation, and in some cases prior to even enrolling at the school.
Once among the largest for-profit post-secondary education companies in the country, Corinthian is facing lawsuits brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state Attorney General Kamala Harris for allegedly preying on low-income people with high-interest loans.
Last year, the school disclosed to investors that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles had launched a criminal probe into its practices.
— City News Service