Students claim they were tricked into enrolling
December 14, 2009 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: From the Courts, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Students at this university say they were — in effect — promised a Cadillac and delivered a Yugo. And they want the school to pay.
Seven students at American InterContinental University (AIU), which has campuses in Georgia, have sued the school and its parent company. They say AIU committed fraud by making false representations to get them to enroll.
According to the students, the school obtained and maintained accreditation by making false representations to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. They also allege the school falsely inflated employment rates for its graduates.
“A degree from AIU is simply not worth the cost,” say the students, who have had a hard time finding jobs in their fields of study.
The case is proceeding. But the students were dealt a setback when a state appeals court upheld a trial court’s ruling that the case should not proceed as a class action. The appeals court said it would be wrong to grant class action status because the question of whether the school fraudulently induced students to enroll requires a highly individualized analysis.
Cite: Diallo v. American InterContinental University
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Tags: American InterContinental University, Enrollment, fraud
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December 16th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
This is not what education represents. We are letting people file lawsuits because the school promised them a Cadillac. Did you enroll for a degree or to ride around in luxury. I am suprised the students recieved a car. I took that statement as a metaphor. You could trade this Yugo in for a Cadillac when you graduate and can afford the payments let alone the maintenance on the car.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
never heard of a school offering cars before, but if that’s what they promised, that’s what they should deliver. You’re not going to get that much for a Yugo, and I wonder if they promised a new Cadillac or used. My brother has an used Caddy and it breaks down a lot, I’d definitely want a new one — and then i’d sell the gas-guzzler.
also, were the students promise one Caddy between them all? instead of each? that would suck!
December 16th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Ummm, to the folks who previously posted–it was a metaphor, they did not receive cars. Did you all happen to go to American InterContinental University?
December 16th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
To the first couple responses–The students were NOT offered cars! Read what it says. The article says they were “in effect” offered a Cadillac and got a Yugo, i.e. the school represented itself as a Cadillac, a trustworthy and reliable brand. In actuality the school wound up being a less reliable brand. That is at the root of their lawsuit, the school’s representation of themselves to their students.
While I don’t generally agree with students who sue their school post graduation because they can’t find a job, I do think these kids have a case…IF they can prove the school did in fact falsify information to the accreditation committee and inflate employment rates. If that turns out to be the case, then this is in fact false advertising and is setting up a situation where students who wouldn’t normally have come to this school might go. I for one did weigh the post-graduation statistics of my school when I chose it and obviously the accreditation was important. If I found out my school was wrongly accredited or that they tampered with the statistics then I would be ripping mad as well (although I’m sure all schools play with the statistics a bit to produce the strongest effect).
But once again, these kids did not actually receive cars. That was just poor phrasing in the article.
December 17th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Many people are not aware of the For-Profit Universities. I ended up working (big mistake) for such a for-profit Univeristy not knowing what they really are ( Today I am working for a leading State University). They are a shame to the higher education. For those of you who don’t know, these kind of colleges and schools target the poor, vulnerable people that do not know much about colleges. They have a stupid entrance exam any monkey can pass. Many people do not understand about for-profit colleges unless you end up working for them by mistake like me. Do not get them confused with the leading private colleges/universities or Liberal arts colleges. Thought they are private, these schools are all non-profit. The AIU’s do not put their profits back to improve the school. Their goal is not to benifit the students. For example the school I worked for spent $18million in one year just for advertising. Their target grouop as they say are the poor, minorities and especially the ghettos.
The goal of these colleges like AIU is to get those who qualify for Financial Aid. I know for a fact that the so called degrees they get are useless. They have about 20 “Admission Counselors” who are really sales people. I went through a sales training and there are monthly enrollment goals to meet. Those who don’t meet the goals get fired. Therefore; the employees try to meet the target goals by any means. later I found out that most of the employees at these colleges also had no degree or they had a degree from a similar school. They are highly encourage to lie, cheat do whatever to get students to enroll. The students does not receive copies of the paperwork they signed either. They go through an interview questionnaire prepared by psychologists employed by these schools. These schools are the biggest scammers I have ever seen. AIU lost their accreditation recently. Something must be done about these schools.
Yes, and the Cadillac thing is a metaphor. DUH!