Everest College - Controversy

Controversy

In July 2007, the California Attorney General threatened to file suit against Corinthian Colleges, corporate parent of Everest College, unless it settled allegations that it had misrepresented its placement statistics. According to a case filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Corinthian Colleges allegedly "engaged in a persistent pattern of unlawful conduct" by overstating the percentage of those who obtained employment from its courses, inflated information on starting salaries and made misleading or false statements about which programs it was authorized to offer and which were approved by the California Department of Education. The suit stated that Corinthian's "own records show that a substantial percentage of students do not complete the programs and, of those who complete the program, a large majority do not successfully obtain employment within six months after completing the course." In late July, Corinthian Colleges agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the chain engaged in unlawful business practices by exaggerating its record of placing students in well-paying jobs; the amount included $5.8 million in restitution to students as well as $500,000 in civil damages and $200,000 in court costs.

Everest was one of 15 for-profit colleges cited by the Government Accountability Office for deceptive or questionable statements that were made to undercover investigators posing as applicants. Two unnamed campuses were cited in this report. Department of Education statistics indicated that Everest College graduates had the highest default rate of any school in California for students entering repayment in 2010 and the fifth highest rate in Arizona.

In September 2010, a group of Everest College graduates sued the school for fraud, alleging deceptive recruitment practices concerning costs of attendance, the value of the degree, and whether credits earned there would transfer to other schools.