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Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
I didnt fail. I was doing quite good when i left. A teacher told our class that he hoped we were getting our moneys worth because it costs as much as harvard. There was so many red flags showing their operation is a sham.
Quit trying to defend them, you sound like one of those mortgage crisis criminals.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
@Really - I could introduce you to 300+ people that I know personally who have amounts of debt similar to what Mike reports from EDMC schools with no degree to show.
This amount of debt comes from things like the "kits" that are full of overpriced materials, r&b that is higher per student than the average flat price for the same apartment in the same area, special private student loan packages worked out between EDMC and Sallie Mae that by default come with a 23.99% interest rate no matter your credit or your co-signer and that students are told are the ONLY loan the school will accept.
I've witnessed kids given loan refunds without the debt being cleared as a qualified education expense, talked to hundreds of people who were never told where the check they were handed came from, that it was an overage from their loan that they needed to pay back, and many that were told it's "extra money" that the school doesn't need.
Were these people foolish to not investigate before spending that money? HELL YES they were but that's because those are exactly the people that EDMC targets.
100% of the people that have been screwed by EDMC will pay back their loans and the crazy high interest. Most will also pay loads of penalties because of lies told them about potential jobs. NONE of them CAN leave the tax payers or anyone else to pick up the tab unless they kill themselves. Luckily that's not been a very popular option.
So speaking of tabs let's talk about who's tab we're picking up. A great portion of that tab pays for sales people making 6 figures, it goes to investors, it goes to grossly overpaid executives, it goes to Goldman Sachs who tanked the economy just a few short years ago and ruined the housing market (something they are clearly trying to do with education next), government lobbyists, seo professionals who can set up bogus blogs full of positive posts about EDMC schools (all of which seem to be registered in Indonesia for some reason), and the little bit that is left goes to actually educating the student and a large portion of that goes to a few good and a bunch of so-so instructors.
Now who's tab are we picking up again?
What Mike is talking about is accountability. Right now we're yelling at people who when they were 17 or 18 were sweet-talked into a bad deal. You want them to act more responsible? To show some accountability for THEIR actions???
What about the actions of all of the grown adults in the situation - why the hell does Todd Nelson not have to have any responsibility? Why do the sales and financial scam, sorry financial aid, people not have to have any responsibility, why are the lenders not expected to have any accountability?
I'll tell you why - because unlike the foolish teenagers that they prey on they have millions of dollars to pay lawyers, lobbyists, and PR people to ensure that their only responsibility is to count the money they funneled through these students.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Todd Nelson, or anyone at the school, didn't force Mike D. to go to college, ultimately fail at it, and then stiff EDMC and the government with the tab. Quit trying to point the finger at others when its you guys who suck just as much, if not more.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
@Really?
You are obviously uninformed. Todd Nelson is the biggest crook on the planet! He drove Phoenix University into the ground by doing the same thing being done at EDMC. Just Google "Apollo Group Lawsuit" Ole Todd needs to make those 20+ million dollar bonuses.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
You don't have 83k in defaulted loans and not ever received a stipend. Don't lie. Next, textbooks aren't "used" at most schools, bud. Not just the ones they made you buy. Also, once you realized they weren't used, why did you continue to buy them? I agree that texts aren't that important and that's why I stopped buying them after my third semester and still earned a BS degree.
Just face it, YOU invested in Mike D's education and that investment was an obvious failure (or you wouldn't be on here blaming everyone, but yourself).
Now you want society to pay for your failure through bankruptcy. No wonder our economy stinks and our national debt is rising. It's plugs like you not carrying your weight and writing checks your a$$ can't cash (or in this case borrowing money you have no intentions in paying back).
Just imagine how many Mike D's are out there? Thanks for burning our government out of thousands upon thousands dollars. What a great asset you are to the population. Say what you want about for-profit schools, but they'll at least pay up for their mistakes, unlike yourself.
Occupy the Defaulted should be this country's next big thing. Look in the mirror for once. You are the problem and it started with you investing in your education. Not Todd Nelson, not John Doe the AR, not Sallie Mae, but it was Mike D.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
None of it went to me. It all went to the school. I trusted the schools. Why? Because I had no reason not to. Nobody questions the builders of a bridge when you cross it. No, it all went to Career Education Corp and Education Management Corp. And my fight won't be over until either every last dollar is written off or the bankruptcy laws are changed myself and others can finally move on with our lives and learn from our mistakes.
No I didn't waste it. I was fooled into buying books that we never used, and more that they said we needed for our program.
When I withdrew, you know what happened to the outstanding over-borrowed balance AI/ EDMC had pulled in my name? It was sent back to Sallie Mae because I refused to sign for more or get a co-signer for the remaining money needed to keep going.
I'm guessing you must have helped some people 'educate' their bank account, eh "of course"?
The school was filling out the balances for the students.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
I wonder how much of Mike's student loan debt was issued in the form of a stipend check? It must have been nice cashing the biggest check of your life? I bet you loved spending the money, but as soon as you were supposed to be held accountable and pay up...you go and pull the victim card. It's was your AR telling you to over-borrow, I'm sure.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Wingnut (AKA Brian Kurkijan),
Have you had any legitimate education after leaving blockbuster video to join CEC's AIU and rise through the ranks in your high pressure sales position within the for-profit education industry? Have you experienced life outside of the Glenngary Glenn Ross atmosphere to which you are obviously accustomed?
Are your "degrees" from AIU worth the paper they are printed on? Why did AIU flee SACS after being put on probation? Did the AIU incident trigger the NCAHLC scrutiny? Are you concerned about the legitimacy of your online degree from AIU?
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/AlertMemorandums/l13j0006.pdf
Ed
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
298 to be exact.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Anyone ever see the movie Boiler Room? Such a classic movie. Every EDMC office addition reminded me of the part when they are getting ready to switch buildings when the heat is coming.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
2003 to 2005 cec 2006 a few months at edmc's ai. No degree. They kept trying to milk more out of me. Edmc barely took any credits and made basics be retaken mixed with advanced courses. And useless bogus gen eds that were a waste of money that normal colleges would laugh at. I wasnt going to wrap a cosigner into it after i learned their top employers were not even related to the programs or temp.
I finished at the cec school i blamed myself thinking i didnt have enough experience. Continued schooling at edmc in a bach program... Worst mistakes of my life. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.
I wont let what happened to me happen to others anymore.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
@TruthTeller, your rant is way too easy to rebut; as soon as EDMC schools stop graduating students, then you can say that admissions representatives are not changing lives or fighting the good fight, plain and simple.
@ Mike, you never answered my question about whether or not you had a degree and how long you spent attending the CEC school or EDMC school which plays a big part in your situation, especially since you have $83k in student loan debt. You obviously don’t have to answer, but I am curious.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
@ EDMC- haters, @ Current EDMC AR, @ Hate the Haters- I am a former employee who was recently let go from the layoffs. And I can honestly say, a lot of those so-called managers, aren't real managers. It takes nothing to be a manager in that company. Most of them don't really care about the students' success. All they care about are their salaries, and whats going to continue to help them keep those salaries. I've dealt with those managers who would try to convince AR's (Admissions Representatives) to force their students into class, without even knowing what their financial plan was. I've dealt with managers that will tell AR's to try to convince prospective students to go into programs that the student has no interest in, or that was looking for a program completely different.
Being an AR is not based off of skill. Bottom-line, you shouldn't need to be skilled at telling/showing someone the tools to help them be successful in school. It's right there for them to see and for them read, all AR's do, is direct them to that information. How do you hang your hat on getting a lot of students to go to school, it's not about the AR's, it's about the student. Those managers, many AR's, and "Directors" get excited for the AR, because the AR has a student on an application to the school. Not excited for the actual student applying to school, but excited for the AR who only directed them to the information and then said "your next logical step is to apply".
Ha! You all are brainwashed to think you are "changing lives", "fighting the good fight", please. When all you are doing is talking on the phone with someone, guiding them through, and hearing them make the decision to change their own lives. I've helped students make the decision to change their life, i've talked with students who really needed more than just a "hey, you can do it" speech, more than just to show them the classes in a program or the benefits in a program, but did I pat myself on the back? No, because at the end of the day, it wasn't about me. It was about the student. I got happy for them, because THEY were happy they were making that decision, because THEY saw joy in the information they would be learning, because THEY were taking the right steps to changing their lives and future, and because THEY viewed me as someone with patience, compassion to their issues, and with a genuine interest to help them. That's what I liked about that position. That's what I felt I was there for.
But, I was let go because I didn't find enough of those students every quarter. Everyone who works as an AR, or worked as an AR, knows we don't have 100% control over a prospective student deciding to go to school, that the law of averages plays a huge factor in finding students who really want to go to school. And they say everyone gets the same leads, please. If that was the case, then why would their be a need for a tiering system?
If you think that's me "hating", then you need to re-examine yourself and your way of thinking, because all of that in which I just said, is the real information. I'm not bitter that I am no longer working there, because I know God put me there for a reason and for a certain time, to make the connections that I was supposed to make and help the students that I was supposed to help. But the way that company is ran is NOT right. Not 100% ethically sound. From top to bottom.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Cec: katherine gibbs who renamed to sanford brown owned by cec. Considering that career ed's ceo resigned after other locations found fluffed numbers to claim title iv, you can certainly say my claim is legit.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Mike,
I’m not doubting that happened to you with promises and misleading information. I could however argue about the instructor credentials at AIU, not so much EDMC if you did not attend Argosy; that however we’ll save for another time. You never answered my earlier question, you eluded to earning an Associates degree from a CEC school; do you have a degree and if so what is it? When did you attend the CEC school and for how long? When did you attend the EDMC school and for how long? This is precisely the problem, you can’t lump everyone into one big pool and say that for-profits are bad. There is accountability on both parts and everyone’s situation is different.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Career education corp: false job connect promises, lead to subprime private loans from sallie mae and told they were fed, Incorrect associate degree given. Told to buy books never used, Substandard instructors, substandard courses Company tried to place in wrong field.
Edmc: false job connection promises, mislead about private loans "from sallie mae our prefered federal lender". Lied about job placement, lied about staff credentials, lied about entry requirements, lied about, encouraged student housing when not needed, housed students for top dollar at dorms at holiday inn, hired substandard instructors, substandard courses, encouraged students to stay in classes that were too hard, promised extra help, top employer on artinstitutes.edu: home depot. Told to buy books never used.
All of this so they could extract the federal pell grants and loans. And this is just my first hand experience. I know hundeds of others
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Mike,
I worked for both EDMC’s Argosy University for which I am currently a doctoral student, and American InterContinental University (AIU) Online where I earned both my Bachelors and Masters degrees, a CEC school. I can tell you from experience that back in 2004 at AIU when I started working in for-profit higher education that things were a bit shady. Admissions was talking about financial aid which they shouldn’t have been doing and things of that nature. AIU eventually paid the price however, they were placed on probation from their accrediting agency the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Their probation was lifted a couple years later after fixing their wrongdoings. What people don’t realize is that for-profit schools have come a long way since then. More informed students by the schools helps to create better business and more responsible student loan borrowers. There are a vast amount of circumstances that contribute to a bad student experience or large student loan debt like you seem to have. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else and demonize for-profits but harder to concede that they actually provide an alternative for students who cannot/do not want to attend a public college or university. With $83K in student debt, were you able to graduate with at least a Bachelors degree? If not, what happened along the way? What were you told or not told that you have so much student debt and frustration?
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Edmc survivor, i am indeed real and a former student. All of the info i have is always available through the news and all calls are public on edmc.edu. welcome to the age of information. Google is emdc's worst enemy. It educates better than their schools.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Brian, as a student/victim of edmc/cec and now an advocate for others like me, i speak on hehalf of first hand knowledge. The gao report was accurate. Both edmc and cec used the same tactics on ME. Ive seen it. Ive lived it. Now i have over 83000 in debt holding me back from major choices in life like marriage and children. These schools are subprime lending. Its the same scam as the mortgage crisis except one major fact. There are no consumer protections or bankruptcy rights on student loans. Todd nelson doesnt give a care because he thinks someone can have a life with 100k in student debt over their lifetime like some mortgage for a house. He seems to not notice the facts that mortgages replace rent and student loans replace needs. These are real lives being ruined.
Re: “EDMC insiders report layoffs underway”
Since 'Really' won't use his/her real name I'd assume that it's a well paid PR stooge.
@Really - I hope they are paying you in the high 6's to be working defending these sociopaths on a Sat. morning there bud.