07.28.14

Durbin: State of Illinois Takes Decisive Action to Protect Students

Following calls from Senator Durbin, Illinois Board of Higher Education bans for-profit Corinthian College from marketing to and enrolling Illinois students

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today praised the decisive action taken by the Illinois Board of Higher Education which ordered Corinthian Colleges - owner of six “Everest College” campuses in Illinois - to immediately stop all sales, advertising, marketing and enrollment activities in Illinois.

Durbin has been warning Illinois students and calling for an end to enrollments since the Department of Education increased scrutiny of Corinthian Colleges, Inc. on June 20, 2014 after the company failed to provide required data about its practices, including falsifying job placement data used in marketing claims to prospective students and allegations of altered grades and attendance.

“It is disgraceful that Everest Colleges in Illinois have been allowed to continue enrolling students for the last month, but today’s decision will finally put an end to that,” said Durbin.  “The State of Illinois has acted decisively and I encourage Corinthian to fully comply.  If not, I am confident Attorney General Lisa Madigan will do everything in her power to see that this order is fully enforced.  I hope other states will follow suit.  All Everest College students should immediately be made aware of the company’s intent to sell their campuses in Illinois and their financial options whether they choose to continue their education or not.”

 

Durbin met with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan last week to discuss efforts to protect students and graduates of Corinthian Colleges Inc. Madigan was in Washington, D.C. to testify at a Senate HELP Committee hearing on “The Role of States in Higher Education.”  A photo of that meeting is available here.

 

B-roll of that meeting is available for TV Stations using FTP in high definition here and in standard definition here.

After failing to provide required data to the Department of Education, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. agreed to sell or close its campuses across the country. This places the company’s 70,000 current students at risk, but also presents the opportunity to find better educational opportunities for these students.  The for-profit college is currently under investigation by 20 states, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

On June 26, Durbin joined eleven U.S. Senators in calling on the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to protect students while continuing to hold Corinthian Colleges, Inc. accountable, including immediately prohibiting them from enrolling any new students.  In addition, the Senators asked the Department of Education to answer a series of questions related to the protection of students and taxpayer funding. 

 

In response to a December 16 investigation in the Huffington Post, Durbin sent a letter to the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, asking him to investigate Corinthian Colleges, Inc. and their manipulative marketing practices which included a subsidy program for employers to hire graduates temporarily and outright lying by the company through their advertisement of numbers substantially higher than actual job placement rates.

 

After that letter, the Department requested information from Corinthian related to their job placement rates, information they have yet to provide, and denied the company’s new program applications.  Durbin also called on the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges – Corinthian Colleges, Inc.’s accreditor – to take action.