The Art Institute of Pittsburgh wasn’t the first choice for aspiring graphic designer Renee Sajewski. But the Michigan native first heard about the school from an art teacher, and a friend who had good experiences there. And besides, unlike many other art schools she was looking at, AIP didn’t require a portfolio.
When she first arrived in the fall of 2001, however, the school was everything she could have hoped for.
“The classes at the Art Institute were very good,” says Sajewski. “We were taught very well in the technical part of design. The teachers were awesome; they really cared and the classes were small so in most cases you really knew your teacher.” Her instructors gave her a thorough grounding in programs like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. All in all, Sajewski says, “I definitely feel I walked away with a good education and skill sets for my field.”
But when she graduated in 2005, she also walked away with a sizable debt.
Her bachelor’s degree in graphic design cost her more than $78,000, and that didn’t even cover her living expenses. Sajewski borrowed the money for school, which she did by taking out loans from federally backed college-loan programs and private lenders. There’s nothing strange about students taking on debt to pay for college, but the amount Sajewski borrowed was unusual.
By the time she graduated, Sajewski had amassed $140,000 in debt.
Today, she is making monthly loan payments of $600; next year that amount will increase to $750, and $950 the year after that. It took Sajewski nearly a year to find a job in her field, and while she is getting by for now, she says, “It feels awful to have paid for an education and basically get paid minimum wage after taxes and my loans are paid.”
But for the Art Institute’s parent company, Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp., Sajewski’s tuition — and that of 97,000 students enrolled in schools nationwide — has already paid off. Just this February, the company announced that in its most recent fiscal quarter, the company had earned $445 million in revenue.
“We are pleased with our strong financial performance,” the company’s CEO, Todd S. Nelson, announced. And with good reason: Nelson himself makes $1.2 million per year in salary and bonuses. Unlike more established colleges and universities, Nelson’s company teaches students for profit, and business has been good.
From its Downtown headquarters, EDMC presides over 83 schools in 26 states and two Canadian provinces. Most of those schools, like the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, focus on careers such as graphic design, culinary arts or video production. And at most of them, students will pay more for a two-year or four-year degree than their counterparts at more traditional colleges and universities.
EDMC bills itself as being “among the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America,” but that’s not the only reason it has attracted attention. Before coming to Pittsburgh, Nelson was at the center of a controversy surrounding another for-profit school — a controversy in which investors and federal education officials alike found fault with the school’s aggressive marketing strategies.
And some critics contend that for-profit schools like EDMC are built on the backs of indebted students … students who have much more to lose than their alma mater does.
“It is extremely hard to pay [the loans] with my income,” Sajewski says. “I have accepted the fact that I will be in debt probably the rest of my life.”
Walking down AIP’s second-floor display of alumni professional works, Alumni Director Dave DiBella proudly shows off the work of some of the school’s graduates. Many of them are familiar: Frownie, the mascot of the King’s restaurant chain; screenshots from the popular video game Halo 3; a commemorative Elvis stamp from years ago.
“You probably don’t go through your day without seeing something that was created by a graduate of this school,” DiBella says.
And the Art Institute’s president, George Pry, says at AIP you’re paying for not just the coursework, but also for career counseling and an alumni program that connects you to a nationwide network. “You’re paying for the reputation, [and] AIP’s name is one of the top-notch names out there,” says Pry. “You’re also paying for a bite of the national picture. We have over 40 art institutes out there. Do you want to know about the job market in Los Angeles? We’ve got a couple institutes out there, and we know what the job market is.”
AIP students are recruited by companies like American Eagle and American Greetings card company, boasts DiBella, whose job is to keep in touch with the school’s alumni, connecting them with potential job opportunities.
“A grad always has the option to come back to me and see if I can give assistance in their job search, regardless of how long it has been since they graduated,” DiBella says.
Katie Speers, of AIP’s career services office, says roughly half of the school’s graduating students find jobs after graduation, thanks to leads from the school. She says her office tries early on in a student’s education to get them involved in planning for their careers. They also help them develop a portfolio that will attract future employers.
“We work with them while they’re students to help them develop freelance opportunities and internships,” she says. “We really want them to know what it’s going to take to get a job when they graduate. They need to know that experience means success.”
And success is what many Art Institute students have found.
While attending Westminster College, Zach Barrish decided to pursue an interest in graphic design by transferring to AIP in his junior year. “I already had two years at Westminster when I arrived here and they started me right in on accelerated courses,” Barrish says. “I learned twice as much in my time here and my experience was really great.
“I knew when I left that I was capable of being a good designer because of the education I got here at AIP.”
Students like Barrish “are willing to pay money because they know there’s a far greater chance that when they graduate they’ll be able to find a job,” says Harris Miller, president and CEO of the Career Colleges Association, which represents for-profit educators and institutions.
In financial filings, EDMC has claimed that slightly less than 9 out of 10 of the students that graduate from its programs find work in their field of study within six months of graduating. But the company also gives itself some wiggle room; the 9-out-of-10 statistic does not include some 13 percent of graduates who are not working in their field for reasons including death, active military service … or those who are “continuing in a career unrelated to their program of study because they currently earn salaries which exceed those paid to entry-level employees.”
For example, Pry says, imagine a manager at Wal-Mart who studies design, but stays at Wal-Mart after graduating because the $25,000 or so he would make as a designer doesn’t come close to what he was already earning.
The numbers also don’t include a much larger group of students: those who drop out before completing their studies. Just 52 percent of students who enroll in the Art Institute end up completing their program within six years. Pry says that “persistence rate” is comparable with other for-profit schools. But the average for traditional public four-year colleges and universities, according to a 2003 study from the American Federation of Teachers is 76.8 percent.
Such drop-out rates are one reason “our members have a major concern with publicly traded for-profit colleges,” says David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “These companies have developed a business model that at the end of the day has no regard for the student.
“A lot of these schools offer these degrees at a very high price and they don’t usually take the time to see if the student is even compatible with that course of study,” says Hawkins. “They convince students to come to their schools with the promise of job placement after graduation, but in a lot of instances they can’t find a job or they find one that doesn’t pay them much more than then if they didn’t spend $80,000 to go there.”
The NACAC is made up of some 10,000 counselors in high schools and traditional, nonprofit colleges. Some of Hawkins members, then, work for colleges that are competing with for-profit schools.
“If this were just a business, then these schools would be out of business,” Miller counters. “If they didn’t provide quality education or weren’t able to place students in jobs after graduation, they would absolutely be out of business.
“Neither a community college, or the University of Pittsburgh for that matter, can say they find jobs for their students. I love Pitt, I graduated from there, but nobody knows what happens to their students after graduation. Nobody is criticizing the number of history degrees they give out and ask whether those students have found work.
“Traditional universities have gotten more selective both academically and socio-economically,” Miller adds. “Rather than providing a path for someone in a lower economic class to move into the upper-middle class, they’d rather help the upper-middle class stay there. Many of our clients don’t come from a place like Mount Lebanon with two parents with a big house to co-sign for their education. Our students are 26- and 27 year-old single parents with poor or no credit to speak of, and they still deserve a chance at an education.”
But to get it, many of those students are paying upper-middle-class prices.
“For-profit schools are more likely to service lower-income students — anyone who can come up with the tuition payments,” says Mark Kantrowitz, who publishes a college-financing Web site www.finaid.org, and studies trends in higher education.
And those tuition payments are often much higher than they might be somewhere else.
A bachelor’s degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh costs $78,480. A two-year associate’s degree in graphic design would cost $45,300, according to the Art Institute’s own Web site.
By comparison, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s College of Arts and Sciences costs roughly $48,400. A four-year degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania costs just under $21,000.
Schools like Pitt and IUP receive state funding, which helps them keep costs down. As a result, the Art Institute is more comparable to nearby private schools like Point Park University ($76,000 for four years) and Carlow University ($78,000).
So how do students who lack upper-middle-class assets pay for an expensive school? By taking out student loans. As Miller puts it, “Students with modest means need to borrow money to get an education.”
Student debt is the fuel that EDMC and other for-profit schools run on. According to EDMC financial filings from 2007, roughly 70 cents out of every dollar the company earns in net revenue comes from federally backed financial-aid programs. Most of that aid is in the form of loans which must be paid back after graduation. And credit counselors say that such loans can be especially pernicious; even declaring bankruptcy will not remove the obligation to pay them back.
“Unfortunately, people don’t save up to pay for higher education and they have to take out $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 in loans,” says Pry. “While I wish it could be significantly less than that, I feel very assured that it’s well worth the price.”
According to Kantrowitz, nearly 9 out of 10 students at for-profit schools borrow money to pay for their education; at a nonprofit public university, just over 6 out of 10 students do. The discrepancy is even higher for students interested in a two-year associate’s degree: Nine out of 10 students at a for-profit school will go into debt to pay for it, while only 1 out 3 students will do so at a nonprofit school.
And not surprisingly, the debt incurred at schools like AIP is much larger: Kantrowitz says that students graduating from a four-year, for-profit school have a cumulative debt of $28,138, compared to the $17,277 an average graduate at a nonprofit college will incur.
“With these numbers, it should come as no surprise that students at the for-profit institution are more likely to default,” Kantrowitz says.
Kantrowitz says there are ways to avoid severe student-loan debt once you graduate, like never borrowing more than your expected starting salary out of college. “If you borrow more than twice that, there’s a good chance you’re going into default.”
By that standard, the student Pry imagines borrowing $70,000 might be in trouble. The Art Institute’s own figures show that the average graduate with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design earns roughly $29,500 after graduation.
“The problem is most students don’t even consider the money aspect of their education when they enroll,” Kantrowitz says. “When you’re in school, going to classes, you’re not worrying about the debt piling on. You don’t realize how bad it is until you graduate.”
It’s not for lack of trying on the school’s part, says AIP President Pry: “When a student enrolls, before they sign up and are committed to all the money, we are giving them what their total cost is. We show them what we know they expect to get in financial aid, what their expected payment plan is in order to make that all the way through.” Students sign lengthy enrollment agreements, which detail the costs they should expect to incur, and also a personalized budget breaking down the money they have borrowed and an agreed-upon payment plan.
But when a school is offering you a chance to pursue your dream job, who pays attention to balance sheets?
“I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into when it came to the amount of debt I was signing on for,” says Jon Dodge, who graduated from the Art Institute in 2006. “Yes, they sat me down and had me sign forms, but when you’re 18, 19, 20 years old, you’re excited about going to school, learning to draw. You’re not paying attention to any of the stuff that affects you once you’re out of school.
Dodge didn’t want to discuss the size of his loan debt. Now on his third job since graduating, he says the debt is manageable even though it remains “an annoyance every time I cut that student-loan check.” Still, “I’m not in as bad a shape as some people I went to school with,” he says from his home in Cleveland, where he now runs his own commercial entertainment Web site (www.curiousread.com). “I know a lot of people who took out personal loans” to cover living costs in addition to tuition, “and they’re not doing so well.” And the forms that students review at the Art Institute don’t cover private loans students take out to cover living expenses.
Even so, Miller says it’s insulting to think students at for-profit schools don’t know what they are getting into.
“I think it’s a little disingenuous to say that student was pushed too hard into going to a particular school or they don’t understand their debt obligations once they graduate. That assumes that people of a lower income are more susceptible to those types of tactics. It makes the student sound stupid because they’re choosing to pay $40,000 for the same thing that they could get elsewhere for $15,000. But it’s not the same thing and they’re not stupid. … They’re not here because they saw an ad on TV or talked to someone on the phone. They’re here because they did the calculations and they made an informed choice.”
“I don’t think a lot of these students know what they are getting into until they’re out of school and thousands of dollars in debt,” argues David Hawkins, of the national college counseling association. “I think in these institutions there’s an unhealthy focus on the numbers and not enough of a focus on the students, and that’s worrisome.
“The bottom line for these companies is their first concern, not the students,” says Hawkins. “They’re more concerned about Wall Street downgrading their stock.”
By that standard, EDMC has some things to worry about.
The company was a publicly traded corporation until June 2006, when it went private. But just a year and a half later, it reversed that decision: In December 2007, the company announced plans to issue $500 million in company stock. The timing of the decision was notable: It came toward the end of Todd S. Nelson’s first year as CEO — and toward the end of a trial in which he was accused of concealing information from those investing in his previous employer.
When Nelson arrived at EDMC in February 2007, he had an extensive resume. The 48-year-old had nearly 20 years of experience with the Apollo Group Inc. — the parent company of the University of Phoenix, the nation’s largest for-profit educator. In 1998 he was named Apollo’s president, and added the title of CEO in 2001. According to Forbes magazine, Nelson earned more than $32 million in 2004 alone, making him the 10th highest-paid top executive in the country.
But for Nelson, things were beginning to go sour.
In September 2004, the Arizona Republic newspaper obtained a federal Department of Education report that criticized the University of Phoenix’s aggressive recruitment tactics, which included paying recruiters based on the number of students they enroll, a violation of federal law.
Federal investigators discovered “several examples of compensation and sales practices the department says range from illegal to unethical to aggressive,” the Republic reported. “[E]nrollment counselors interviewed by regulators told of a glassed-in isolation room, called the ‘red room,’ where under-performers were put on display to work the phones under intense management supervision. A group of San Jose recruiters recalled being told heads would be on a chopping block if its numbers didn’t come up; another recruiter said her manager told her she couldn’t afford time away from the phone to go to New York for her grandmother’s funeral.”
Nelson told the Republic the report was “very, very unfair” and inaccurate.
Apollo officials were issued the report in February 2004; however, they kept it under wraps until the Republic uncovered it in September of that year. Although they admitted no wrongdoing, Apollo agreed to pay a record $9.8 million to settle the government’s claims. Nelson himself resigned the firm in January 2006.
But while his job had ended, Nelson’s problems had only begun. In October 2004, Apollo shareholders had filed a class-action lawsuit against Nelson and the company itself. Withholding the report, the plaintiffs charged, damaged the company’s stock price.
The trial began in November 2006, and according to published reports, Nelson testified that he had kept the report under wraps because he worried the company’s stock would fall.
The lawsuit also revealed the fact that Nelson had resigned under duress. John Sperling, the company’s chairman of the board, said in a deposition that Nelson was forced out because “I did not believe he was performing his CEO functions in a proper manner.
“I think he was mainly concerned with anything that would cause the stock to drop. … [H]e was preoccupied primarily with the stock price and not with the functioning of the company.”
After a protracted trial, the jury ruled against Nelson and Apollo in January of this year. The verdict ordered the defendants to pay roughly $280 million to its shareholders. In parceling out blame, and thus liability, the jury ruled the company was 60 percent responsible for damages, Nelson was 30 percent responsible, and Apollo’s chief financial officer was 10 percent liable. Unless Nelson’s contract specifically indemnifies him against lawsuits, the ruling could cost him $84 million.
Apollo is appealing the jury’s verdict, and officials at the Art Institute say that while EDMC is the parent company, the schools maintain their independence, acting as their own entities with its own leadership and board.
Some staffers were concerned about Nelson’s past history at Apollo, AIP President Pry acknowledges. “We all heard about the issues at the University of Phoenix, but we haven’t seen anything like that here,” he says. But Nelson “has been all about establishing quality about where we want to go in the future.
“Knowing Todd the way I now know him, I am sure that there’s a good and healthy other side of that story. But that was then and he’s here now with us and there are many checks and balances. … I don’t believe anything like that would happen here, if something negative actually happened.”
City Paper attempted to contact Nelson regarding the situation with the Apollo Group and several other questions regarding EDMC. CP was asked to provide written questions, which it did. But once the questions were provided, EDMC declined to answer them. An EDMC spokesperson replied that the company was in a “quiet period,” mandated by federal law when a company is preparing to issue stock. “During this period, federal securities laws limit what information we can release to the public,” said Jacki Muller, a spokesperson for EDMC. “During the quiet period, we are not responding to press inquiries related to Education Management.” Since the company has not set a date for issuing its stock, there’s no telling when that quiet period will elapse.
But in financial filings, EDMC has acknowledged that it has faced a handful of inquiries from attorneys general in other states.
In a Feb. 14 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, EDMC acknowledges that attorneys general in at least three states — Massachusetts, Oregon and Illinois — have sent “investigative demand” letters to EDMC. In Massachusetts, the company says investigators were seeking information about “alleged unfair and deceptive student lending and marketing practices” carried out at the EDMC-owned New England Institute of Art. The filing says that while the state has dropped the investigation into that matter, it is still looking into the school’s “relationship with student-loan providers.”
Similar questions are apparently being asked at the Art Institute of Portland and four locations in Illinois. According to the financial filing, state officials have sought information about “the relationships between the schools and providers of loans to students attending the schools.”
Natalie Bauer, a spokesperson in the Illinois Attorney General’s office said in an e-mail: “I can confirm that the Illinois Attorney General’s office sent a subpoena to Education Management Corp. as part of an investigation into school lenders.”
Bauer would provide little information about the nature of the “relationships” being investigated. However, Bauer adds the investigation was based on current investigations going on in New York. In that state, which in 2006 placed a moratorium on career colleges offering new programs because of quality-control concerns, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating the relationships between certain lenders, such as Sallie Mae, and schools.
Cuomo is investigating deals between the lenders and the schools that made the financial institution “preferred lenders” in exchange for kickbacks to the schools. According to an article from the July 2007 Career College Central magazine, the kickbacks meant money for things like scholarship funds at nonprofits. But, “for the smallest of for-profit schools it increased the bottom line — a revenue stream that could be as important as the tuition itself. The problem was that students didn’t know about the deals even though they were ultimately paying the price in the form of interest on their loans.”
For-profit schools face another hurdle as well. Since companies like EDMC derive most of their income from students borrowing to pay for their education, the recent credit squeeze is likely to hurt them. Student-loan companies such as Sallie Mae, and nonprofits like the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency have complained of shrinking financial resources. That will make it harder for schools like the Art Institute to enroll new students
According to a Feb. 19 story in The New York Times, “loan companies are tightening standards for private loans to students who have poor credit or to institutions with poor graduation rates. Private loans are not guaranteed by the federal government and can carry rates as high as credit cards.”
Pry says a lot of colleges are in the same boat because of the economic climate and because “alternative loans [are] going away and states … are starting to pull back from grants and the other types of financial aid that’s out there.”
Which means that EDMC, which relies on that financial aid much like its students do, could be facing the same kind of financial uncertainty that plagues even students who are pleased with the education they get. Students like Jon Dodge.
“I know that I am a better designer and I know that I learned more and got a better education at AIP than my colleagues who went to lesser and less expensive schools,” Dodge says. “But the thing is, we’re sitting there at the same job getting the same wage.
“If I had to do it all over again and my choice was to not become a graphic designer or go to AIP, I would go to AIP again. However, if my choice all over again was to go to AIP or a less expensive school like the guy sitting next to me, I’d go somewhere else. As good as my education was, I don’t think it was worth all the money that I paid.”
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2008.
Good story. However, there is another side to this. If you really want an interesting story, investigate The Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s Online Division, located in the Strip by the Boardwalk. Moreover, do it from an employee and ex-employee perspective. If you really dig in and get people to talk, You and your readers will be amazed at what you uncover.
Happy hunting.
Good story. However, there is another side to this. If you really want an interesting story, investigate The Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s Online Division, located in the Strip by the Boardwalk. Moreover, do it from an employee and ex-employee perspective. If you really dig in and get people to talk, You and your readers will be amazed at what you uncover.
Happy hunting.
Do a follow up story on The Art Inst. of Pgh Online Division. Investigate it from the perspective of what it is like to work there – specifically talk to ex-employees. There are many of them. It is a story that needs to be told.
Go to this site and read about the Art Institute Online http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/AIOP0_comments.html
I agree with the previous poster that more attention needs to be paid to what is going on in EDMC’s online division. Since I’m an EDMC OHE alum myself, I can attest to the hijinks that have gone on there in the past. But instead of getting bogged down in tawdry office politics, my suggestion is to focus once again on whose interests are being served best in the for-profit higher education model, this time with the experiences of online students as the theme. I can guarantee to you that while brick-and-mortar schools like AiP will continue to be EDMC’s bread and butter, the online model is the future of the company as well the industry as a whole. That is where many of the most interesting and vexing questions should be addressed.
You really should interview previous employees. We were all forced to recruit students and were paid very well if we met goals of like 15 to 20 people per month. The poorer the person was the better off grants and loans were accessible which resulted in selling degrees rather than counseling. Getting Application fees on one-call-closes were mandatory if you wanted to keep your job. I’m ashamed of myself for working that long with the company, but the money was good. Hopefully my new behavior of attending church regularly will save me.
I thought it was bad at the very public university of Pittsburgh. I guess I have no reason to complain.
It seems like a problem when students can apply for goverment financial aid but the government doesn’t do much to fund or regulate the AIP’s operations. I mean these are the people’s tax dollars flowing through this university via low-income students, right?
If you want to excel in the workforce you’re going to have to educate yourself, educating yourself means paying money. I am a Point Park Graduate and I know I have to pay back loans, but with my education and getting work experience it will pay off. The problem with young people today is they want everything handed to them and they do not want to work for it. I know a friend who works at EDMC and they say the students only concern is when they are getting their refund. When the refund is not available to them at the time they want it or if their mailing date is two days later than expected they threaten to quit. If you’re going to quit school quit because you’re not getting nothing out of it, of the curriculum isn’t what you expected it would be, don’t quit because you won’t get your refund on a Friday so you can spend it all. Kids in other countries would die to have a chance at an education and to make a better life and all the young people want to do is complain. it’s sickening…
Hello,I have several viewpoints from your article. If you talk to any recent college graduate, they will tell you the same story as this graduate did. I was one of them at one point 10 years ago. I worked hard and am currently paying off my college debt like everyone else. AIP is a SPECIALIZED ART DESIGN school. Any Art major is going to be quite expensive based on the tools needed in and out of the classroom to prove your ability. As far as the job goes, it doesn’t matter if your degree is in Graphic/Industrial Design, or Basic Weaving, you need to get off you ass and SELL YOURSELF and YOUR SKILLS to the hiring employer. Pitt doesn’t have a 24-7 webchat so therefore you WILL INDEED pay more to go the AIP. With that being said, I CANNOT excuse the idocy of hiring Todd Nelson as CEO of EDMC!!! Who would hire someone with a track record such as this man? If you really want a story, you can go right to the SEC filings to: http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.v7MK3.htm and find out exactly what the CEO of EDMC-OHE Stephen Weiss makes! Here is your for profit. The ground schools are legit! They are good schools with a credible integrity. I suggest you delve deeper into the workings of the online arena of this company.
I work for Ai Online. I work hard, and I do my best to help students achieve they’re dreams and goals EVERY DAY. as far as the former employee’s comments, I would guess that reason they were not successful is because of their bad attitute, lack of effort, and using others as a crutch/excuse for their lack of success. Also, this job is what you make of it just like any other job. I opperate with 100% integrity, and for you to accuse me of acting in the unflattering manner, shows how much you DONT know about what you are saying. my guess is that you complain about everything. my guess is that you have not been successful at ANY job you’ve been at, and if you were, you’d still be there. maybe you should focus your energy on making yourself a better employee intstead of blaming others for your lack of success. i bet if you were successful and you were making the kind of money top ADA’s make, your attitude would be different. but that is not the path you took, you took the easy way out, blame others for why you didnt succeed instead of sucking it up, working hard, and not making excuses. as for the cost of college, my STATE university in ohio is now at $385 per credit hour. Ai Online is $427, $42 mor per credit hour for a PRIVATE ART SCHOOL TEACHING SPECIALIZED DEGREES seems pretty fair to me.
I for one am sick of these schools taking advantage of our kids. My niece is a senior this year. She told me that a rep from The Art Institutes came to her school and made her complete a card for more information. She said that she was planning on nursing but the rep said that their boss (Pgh area) will fire them if they doesn’t get enough seniors to fill out cards. Since when are we allowed to lead MINORS into completing a card with personal information WITHOUT the parent’s consent? Now, she is hounded by phone calls. Someone make it stop!
I am rather shocked to learn of this “art school” racket. I notice an eery similarity to how many doctors milk the Medicare system for seniors. There really has to be something done about this. Companies are finding reliable revenue streams into government funds through our sick grandmothers and graduating nephews, without really delivering on their promise.
I’d like to state that as a business owner, you must be profitable to survive. However, in this case, it seems as though greed has taken over their sense of good business judgement. For example, who would bring on a new CEO with the kind of history of Mr. Nelson? Didn’t they even think about the long term ramafications of such a decision? I tend to think that perhaps EDMC needs to seek out some individuals who can help them run an honest and sucessful business. After all, it is possible to make money and still put your customers first. Unfortunately, the parties that be must not understand this basic principle.
I hope for the sake of the future of The Art institutes, that they step back and think before they act.
Hi everyone:
Just a note of caution,
Do Not Let this School, trick you in to thinking that they are an Institutional College or University, Just because they have the word Institute in there name; they are not! They are registered as a For Profit Trade School Corp. like ITT tech and all the other TV-Internet Mass Advertiser Predators.
They operate out of a very conservative 2.6 Billion Dollar Mega Money Machine Corporation, located in Pittsburg Pennsylvanian Called –for short Education Management Corporation E.D.M.C. Education Management Holdings LLC along with a Thrilling list of Privet Investors and Super Billionaires across the USA and abroad including, Providence Equity Partners and Goldman and Sacks.
DO NOT SIGN ANY DOCUMENTS WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be sure to bring your paperwork to an attorney before signing any kind agreements in relation to your finances or enrollment with the Art Institute.
They will mislead you into using there lenders, when you have the right to seek your own personnel financing that can lead to necessary funding amounts for your educational plan.
I had a credit score of almost 700, and now due to the lack of professional services at the Art Institute, I cannot even buy a bike.
They destroyed my credit, ruined my College career and my job resume. I have been fighting this School for almost 2 years, and will eventually have to sue them to get my life, and education back in order.
Be very careful when dealing with this school, check everything, and keep all copies of your paperwork NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If anybody else have any problems PLEASE CONTACT ME, you maybe entitled to justice, or compensation. yahoo groups sueaii, we are doing something about it.
This school is hurting kids futures, and it has to stop!
I would like zeusproto to contact me at (203)583-2114 or jcrab1963@hotmail.com. I have a daughter who attends The Art Institute in Massachusetts and I am having BIG problems with their financial aid department. They totally screwed up her first loan she applied for. They didn’t certify the loan and it was denied. They would have had their money from Chase Select Private Education Loans had they certified the loan. Please contact me. I want to start a class action against this f….. school. Or, anyone else who has had a bad experience with them.
IF you request info for the online school you will get a call from the “assistant director of admissions”. There are over 300 assistant directors of admissions.
They will call you three times per day to get you to apply. Expect the following questions or orders:
Tell me about your educational background?
Why is now the right time to go back to school?
What will happen if you do not go to school?
They will ask a series of questions for the purpose of using the information against you later.
They will pressure you into applying.
They will try to get a second person to get you to apply if you turn them down.
They might get nasty with you if you do not apply. “Pain selling”
They will address all objections you give them…..
If you have a problem with any schools, do the following:
-File a complaint with your state attorney general
-file a complaint with all accrediting bodies (ai pgh – middle states for example)
-file a complaint with the us dept of education
I used to work for EDMC’s Art Institutes. THEY ARE TERRIBLY UNETHICAL. There are numerous people in upper management at this school who have been investigated at other career schools. They pressure their admissions people to “make their numbers”. If they don’t, no matter what, they are fired. Admissions people are paid based on the number of students they bring in. I still have all of the documentation about “my plan”, the amount of “points” each incoming student is “worth”, and how salary is determined based on student points. They even have “president’s club” which is an annual trip for the “top producers”, those that have the highest “student points”!!! At one point, I was told that I need to take an application (with a $150 app fee) from someone who told me that they were high and who wanted a degree in an industry that we didn’t even offer!
While I understand that every company needs to make profit to be sustain, a company that cannot do so ethically should not exist. It’s disgusting to think of how many students I saw being taken advantage of.
I look forward to the day that this school is no longer for the sake of the students who are taken advantage of while the managers and ceo’s sit pretty. I also hope to provide evidence for accrediting agencies.
I got pressured into attending AIO , and was told that aid would cover everything.. Needless to say that was a lie, and they kept messing up my account, to the point that I had to withdraw, b/c of there mistakes..Now I have been fighting with them since November, about a balance of $800 some dollars they, try and say I owe them.. They sent my aid back once classes has started and then told me, they messed up and that I could request to have the aid sent back.. They knew they messed up and i had no other choice to withdraw..Wish I had never sign up for this bogus school, that is nothing but a bunch of crooks. I have contacted the better business bureau and the attorney general’s office and I am now waiting to hear from the department of education. Needless to say Legal Action needs to be taking against this school and I’m in the process of trying to get it done. email at pavy81@yahoo.com, to see what can be done to take these crooks down..
I used to work for the online division of EDMC. In the beginning, I was told that my job was to provide my students with a “ticket” out of their lives where they struggled to make ends meet. I was supposed to be helping people out. That was the real reason that I came to work there! However, once on the floor-a sea of smile&dial boxed-in cubicles, it was made very clear that I was not a conduit for education.
My job was to remind people of their pain so that they see the education that I have to offer them as the only way out of that pain. My job was not to determine whether someone was capable of following through with their education (financially OR mentally). My job was to get the application, get the student through the first week of classes-by any means necessary.
I had to overcome any and all objections-bring in a second voice if I couldn’t do it myself. The objective was to make it seem like the student had no other choice. I was to break the student down, if need be, and almost untterly berate them.
Everything everyone has said about EDMC (particularly the online division) is absolutely true. The Art Institute is not the only school owned by EDMC-it is their flagship. Also look out for South University and Argosy University’s online programs, as well.
The thousands of Assistant Directors of Admissions are there to get the application, and get you into class. They might act like they’re your best friend, but you are only a number to them. You are what gets them more money on “the matrix.” You’re another name in the database (one among at least 600).
Here are ways you might “accidentally” inquire into their programs:
1. Online surveys
2. Applying for jobs online
3. Going for your free laptop
Those are the most common. While you should ALWAYS be careful about ever putting your personal information on the internet, think twice before you check any box asking whether or not you’re interested in ever furthering your education. While you might think it would impress your potential employer, it will also call on the ADA’s. They WILL call you three times a day for a week (once a day every day after that) until you pick up.
Please Post your comments on my site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SUE-THE-ART-INSTITUTE-EDMC/
or contact zeusproto@yahoo.com
All of your feed back is important to me, and many students and ex-students alike.
we are not talking, we are doing.
I just quit from EDMC. They are one of the most highly unethical companies I have ever worked for. In fact, at my exit interview, the HR Manager agreed with me that they are an unethical company. Please don’t submit your resume to this company. They are hiring and growing, but it is not worth it! Students are numbers, not people and if you don’t meet your numbers, you will be fired. They have 69% turnover rate. Please do not work for this company!!!
All of us, need your help. all of you on this page that worked for EDMC /AI We need you to contact us ASAP!!!!!!!!!!
Read our site, see what we have done.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=474737780
PLEASE HELP!!!!
I worked for EDMC (Argosy University) for about 11 months, which by Argosy standards is a lifetime. Since I am gone from there and have moved on to a really great job I have no ax to grind, and actually learned a lot there… So I have nothing to gain by my comments, these are simply the facts as I experienced them.
I would guess that Argosy is about the lowest of the low as far as calling itself a “college”. I’m not referring to the academics, (I never took 1 class there, and never spoke to 1 professor), so I cannot speak to that. However, the “Admissions Department” is simply a telemarketing business. It is a sales business and what they are selling just happens to be education. But the tactics are the same, extreme high pressure and intimidation. I read the comments by “successful ada”, and have to admit there are some people at EDMC who are happy. However they are isolated individuals as the overwhelming majority hate waking up to go there daily. “successful ada” said in their comments “i bet if you were successful and you were making the kind of money top ADA’s make, your attitude would be different”… I understand what they are saying however they are trumpeting a completely wrong attitude, that which fundamentally convicts EDMC… more students = more money for the ADA. I have nothing against making more money, give me all you want; however don’t tie it to the number of students I get. The problem with that equation is some more agressive ADAs (Assistant Director of Admissions, of which there are a couple of hundred… the title is a deceptive tactic in itself) will begin to bend the truth especially in the area of Title IV (federal financial aid). Those ADAs who are on PIPs (Personal Improvement Plans- specifically and overwhelminingly for lack of numbers) and in danger of losing their jobs or getting a 10-15% salary decrease, will say almost anything to get students to enroll. “successful ada” also mentions “top ADA’s”… Top ADAs are simply those who enroll and start the most students (like selling the most cars)… Argosy is set up in teams, most about 15-20 “Assistant Directors of Admission” (telemarketers), and are headed up by Second Directors. The job of the Second Directors is easy and transparent. They are to drive the ADAs to get as many applications (including a $50 application fee)a week as possible. They have a 10 minute stand-up meeting with the ADAs in the morning and from that point on the Second Directors push the ADAs to have “quality conversations” with people they call in their database. The Second Directors walk up and down the aisles watching the ADAs’ screens and listening to their conversations. The ADAs are instructed to take no breaks, make any personal phone calls, etc during the first 2 hours. I understand that; it’s simply a control tactic. However the Second Directors, most of whom have no management experience whatsoever have no idea how to relate to the ADAs or maintain that control in a humanitarian way. So the Second Directors simply bully the ADAs, humiliate and intimidate them.
The Second Directors are led by a Director of Admissions. The Director of Admissions changes often, so if you don’t like the current director, not to worry… they will be demoted, fired, transferred, whatever in time anyway… From what I understand, the current director went over from the Art Institute. His job is all numbers (students) driven, so it all runs down hill. He gets on the Second Directors for numbers and in turn the Second Directors beat on the ADAs for numbers.
In theory, that’s all well and good.. sounds simply like a sales team driving up numbers and profits.. The sad fact however is THIS IS A COLLEGE (or posing as one). There is no semblance of a college whatsoever other than when the ADAs are on the phone with a prospect (since they talk about school).
Let me say something quickly about the prospects… as “m155 k17713” said earlier, prospects hear about Argosy in several different ways, and inquire about their programs. Some have a legitimate intent to inquire; however the vast majority are duped into releasing their personal information based on deceptive advertising that Argosy participates in. Many prospects assume they are simply completing a survey; some are trying to locate information about something totally unrelated to school, but a website is set up such that, to get to the next screen one is required to answer questions, one such question dealing with going back to school. The prospect simply replies “yes” to a box to continue to the next screen in their totally unrelated search. Once Argosy has their information, the unsuspecting prospects are relentlessly inundated with endless calls from hopelessly driven ADAs. If prospects are contacted and ask to be put on “no call” lists, the Second Directors simply rotate the “leads”, the records of previous calls are wiped clean and new ADAs are required to call them. In other words, prospects are seldom deleted from the database. In fact, if an ADA attempts to delete a prospect’s phone number from the database simply to assist a frustrated prospect, that ADA is reprimanded. So, once a prospect’s information is in Argosy’s database, the unsuspecting prospect is in for a nightmare.
The vast majority of ADAs at Argosy are hard working people simply trying to get through the day and watching the clock, praying for the time to pass quickly. Most make 200 or so dials per day and just hope for the next dail to be someone they can talk to, have a “quality conversation” with and get their $50.00. Again, “successful ada” talks about top ADAs… actually the top ADAs (there may be 2-3 on each team) are the Second Directors’ favorites. So they get the best leads (leads are tiered based on the advertising source), they get the call-ins and the applications completed online, those not assigned to anyone. So top ADAs are fed by their Second Directors. (Those are the happy ADAs). Argosy sends out e-mails to everyone on the sales floor when an ADA gets an application, and they also have what is akin to a “Leader Board”… Even though the Second Directors and the Director would deny it or downplay it, the favorites are always at the top of the list week in and week out. There are a handful of ADAs who consistently get 3-4-5 applications per week while the rest flounder to avoid zeros for the week. Everyone knows how it works; however no one has any authority or are brave enough to say anything. You simply deal with it or leave.
One more thing… Argosy has a pay structure called “The Matrix”… based solely on the number of students ADAs enroll. They insist that there are also quality points (how well you execute your job); however, it’s simply a smokescreen…. It is based 100% on numbers, and the quality points mean nothing other than window dressing to satisfy a dormant accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission. Schools pay dues to be members of the commission, and from what I understand, it is partially based on the percentage of profit the school has (I am not sure about that since I was not there long enough to care to research it, that is simply what I heard)… So it is in the Higher Learning Commission’s best interests to keep schools like this open for business. So I assume, even though it is a federal law that pay cannot be tied to numbers, the Higher Learning Commission overlooks such blatant disregard for employees and pay structure. The students and employees of EDMC are hurt by this.
Finally, I understand that Todd Nelson, the CEO of EDMC has brought in another University of Phoenix guy to fill the vacancy of Stephen Weiss… Gee that’s a good decision… That school seems to be asleep at the wheel, or for that matter, the regulators…
Again, I have no ax to grind, I walked away from Argosy, I was not fired. I did an average job there of getting students, I was not a Top ADA (one of the favorites being handed apps); just average. But I sincerely feel sorry for those employees (especially the ADAs) who are still there having to put up with the intimidation, fear tactics and sheer rudeness of the Second Directors. They have to be the worst group of “managers” any company could assemble. Since they’re only real consideration is getting numbers, people, lives, concerns, simple human courtesy be damned… Why did I leave? Sadly it was because the Director and Second Directors didn’t care one ounce about me, and I ended up unfortunately, not caring about them. What did I learn there? I learned that what it all comes down to is, for EDMC, people are not cherished, people are not assets, they are simply numbers rolled into profits… both the students and employees…
Excuse me as I set the new pace for this site
This post you see luvburgh 7/18/2009 – 10:59am is 50 miles long putting all the concerns at the bottom of the site so the chance of the information to be seen is limited.
In other words SMOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOUNDS LIKE HE OR SHE IS POSTING FOR A REASON OF HLEPING, BUT, THE SAME PUSH DOWN TACTICS OR BEING USED ON MANY OTHER SITES, I HAVE BEEN FIGHTING TO KEEP INFORMATION UP ON A WEEKLY BASES.
So I have taken the liberty of re posting the information here.
remlaw06
5/26/2009 – 3:17pm
I just quit from EDMC. They are one of the most highly unethical companies I have ever worked for. In fact, at my exit interview, the HR Manager agreed with me that they are an unethical company. Please don’t submit your resume to this company. They are hiring and growing, but it is not worth it! Students are numbers, not people and if you don’t meet your numbers, you will be fired. They have 69% turnover rate. Please do not work for this company!!!
pavy81
5/ 7/2009 – 1:18am
I got pressured into attending AIO , and was told that aid would cover everything.. Needless to say that was a lie, and they kept messing up my account, to the point that I had to withdraw, b/c of there mistakes..Now I have been fighting with them since November, about a balance of $800 some dollars they, try and say I owe them.. They sent my aid back once classes has started and then told me, they messed up and that I could request to have the aid sent back.. They knew they messed up and i had no other choice to withdraw..Wish I had never sign up for this bogus school, that is nothing but a bunch of crooks. I have contacted the better business bureau and the attorney general’s office and I am now waiting to hear from the department of education. Needless to say Legal Action needs to be taking against this school and I’m in the process of trying to get it done. email at pavy81@yahoo.com, to see what can be done to take these crooks down..
m155 k17713
5/19/2009 – 10:24pm
I used to work for the online division of EDMC. In the beginning, I was told that my job was to provide my students with a “ticket” out of their lives where they struggled to make ends meet. I was supposed to be helping people out. That was the real reason that I came to work there! However, once on the floor-a sea of smile&dial boxed-in cubicles, it was made very clear that I was not a conduit for education.
My job was to remind people of their pain so that they see the education that I have to offer them as the only way out of that pain. My job was not to determine whether someone was capable of following through with their education (financially OR mentally). My job was to get the application, get the student through the first week of classes-by any means necessary.
I had to overcome any and all objections-bring in a second voice if I couldn’t do it myself. The objective was to make it seem like the student had no other choice. I was to break the student down, if need be, and almost untterly berate them.
Everything everyone has said about EDMC (particularly the online division) is absolutely true. The Art Institute is not the only school owned by EDMC-it is their flagship. Also look out for South University and Argosy University’s online programs, as well.
The thousands of Assistant Directors of Admissions are there to get the application, and get you into class. They might act like they’re your best friend, but you are only a number to them. You are what gets them more money on “the matrix.” You’re another name in the database (one among at least 600).
Here are ways you might “accidentally” inquire into their programs:
1. Online surveys
2. Applying for jobs online
3. Going for your free laptop
Those are the most common. While you should ALWAYS be careful about ever putting your personal information on the internet, think twice before you check any box asking whether or not you’re interested in ever furthering your education. While you might think it would impress your potential employer, it will also call on the ADA’s. They WILL call you three times a day for a week (once a day every day after that) until you pick up.
These EDMC guys work like mobsters, and I think after dealing with them, They kind of feel that they are a moffia run Organization.
I have been threaten buy AI staff, warning me of the finacial clout, of how far EDMC can reach.
At that time I felt that it sounded like a DEATH THREAT!
I SWEAR THAT IT SOUNDED THAT WAY!
WELL I AM GIVING E.D.M.C. A WORD OF ADVICE. MY GANG IS BIGGER THE YOUR GANG, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MANY WITNESSES!
{MANY FILINGS AND A PENDING LAW SUIT, WITCH IS LONG OVER DO, DUE TO YOUR SLIP TACTICS. BUT YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME AND RESOURCES, JUST LIKE I SAID YOU WOULD}
All of us, need your help. all of you on this page that worked for EDMC /AI We need you to contact us ASAP!!!!!!!!!!
Read our site, see what we have done.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=474737780
PLEASE HELP!!!! We
OOP, I am really sorry I messed it up. I didn’t realize it would cause everyone else’s messages to be so low, but I get it now… Argosy is the worst place. I just heard from someone there that a couple of managers just got fired… probably not enough beatings on the ADAs… I got an e-mail from someone else that a lady from the newspaper is writing an article about EDMC and needs some help. Her e-mail address is echute@Post-Gazette.com I e-mailed her but she needs to be flooded with e-mails.
I’m glad I came across this thread. I applied to EDMC as an ADA just recently. From what I hear from people on this thread, this is telemarketing at its root. What is the pay scale approximately? I don’t need exact numbers, just a range, but what would an annual salary be for an “average” ADA and for a “top five” ADA?
job seeker,
No amount of money would ever be worth the lack of ethics (to say the least) that EDMC forces upon it’s employees. This company is evil. I have no idea how anyone who works for these schools can sleep at night!
Goldman Sachs is a shareholder of EDMC… need I say more!!! EDMC’s lack of ethics have contributed to the financial melt down as well. They pressure people into going to school at one of crappy schools, then push high interest private loans onto incoming students so that admissions can make their numbers. Companies like Sallie Mae would then buy up this bad student debt (when so many students could not repay). That only worked for so long. Now it’s played a major role in the collapse. These students are victims. They are typically from families with little to no financial support and many have fallen through the cracks in poor high school education. They are looking for a way out. Not many people know how ethical and illegal the for profit education industry can be. These students do not think to be skeptical when admissions people are feeding them lines of BS. They hear news that they have been approved for a loan (with insane terms) to go to school and they are ecstatic. It is really, really shameful. PLEASE CONTACT THE HIGHER LEARNING COMMISSION, YOUR STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ABOUT THIS COMPANY! They are very interested. They need all of the information that they can get.
Want to help stop the Art Institutes and their scams?
Join us. at www . sueainow . com
This is full on web site with blogs and info were you can sign a petition that is going the the U.S. Government to report their scams and E.D.M.C’S business practices.
We ex-specially invite former E.D.M.C. employees to tell their story.
X Student and Students Alike,
It looks like there is now a shareholder class action lawsuit against education management corporation. They are actually still recruiting edmc shareholders to join the lawsuit. Check it out here: http://education-management-corporation-lawsuit.com/
3 years removed from receiving my Bachelor’s Degree…and I’m still waiting for that job I was promised at graduation, while I sit here with my bank account in the negative, buried under loans that I cant pay off because I cant find a job that pays more than minimum wage.
I am a current employer at The Art Institute and have been here for a month. I came from Brown Mackie College in a different state on a offer that was promised and paid up until this point. They decreased my pay without my knowledge to my original pay that I had at Brown Mackie College. Is this fair? I moved from state to state with the promise of a salary that they have paid but now wants to take away stating I stayed in same job title and I was only suppose to receive a 3% increase instead. What am I to do? I have put my house in previous state up for sale and my family has moved to new location. Isn’t this considered unethical?
Hello friends!!! My name is Mr Carlos Hunter . i want to testify of the good Loan Lender who showed light to me after been scammed by 2 different lender, they all promise to give me a loan after making me pay alot of fees which yield nothing and amounted to no positive result. i lost my hard earn money and it was a total of 6,000USD. One day as i was browsing through the internet looking frustrated when i came across a testimony woman who was also scammed and eventually got linked to a legit loan company called Dr. Vasquez Reynolds Loan Company and email (vasquezreynoldsloanhome@gmail.com) where she finally got her loan, so i decided to contact the same loan company and then told them my story on how i have been scammed by 2 different lenders who did nothing but to course me more pain. I explain to the company by mail and all they told me was to cry no more because i will get my loan in their company and also i have made the right choice of contacting them. i filled the loan application form and proceeded with all that was requested of me and to my greatest surprise I was given a loan amount of $500,000.00 Dollars by this great Company (Dr. Vasquez Reynolds Loan Company} managed by Dr. Vasquez Reynolds God fearing man and here i am today happy because this company has given me a loan so i made a vow to my self that i will keep testifying on the internet on how i got my loan.
They offer all kind of categories of loan they
Short term loan (1_10years)
Long term loan (20_30 years)
They offer loan like
Home loan…………., Business loan…….. Debt consolidation loan …….
Student loan……….,Business start up loan
Business loan……. , Company loan…………..Mortgages loan
construction loan…..car loan…….. hotel loan….personal loans.. etc