The federal government has opened an investigation into the Indiana-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE) that owns many schools across the country in connection with student loans.
According to an article published on the Republic Report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating the owner of the chain of colleges over its student loan practices, including misrepresenting loans.
The investigation comes months after the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) put its chain of schools like CollegeAmerica, Stevens-Henager College, California College San Diego, and Independence University on probation with many conditions.
The accreditor has said that CEHE’s “advertising and recruitment tactics coupled with a poorly documented admissions process have fostered the creation of a student population that the schools are ill-prepared to educate.”
The center has long been accused of not providing quality education by overcharging students and deceiving them. One of its schools in Denver is being sued by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office for flattering graduation rate and deceptive recruitment practices, The New York Times reports.
In 2016, CEHE sued the U.S. Department of Education for not classifying them as non-profit institutions and accused it of pursuing a “political agenda” later quietly withdrawing its lawsuit. The college chain had changed its for-profit to non-profit status in 2012.
Last month, the Education Department released Institutional Accountability regulations that will hold higher education institutions accountable for misrepresentation and fraud and providing financial protections to taxpayers by at-risk institutions.
Affected students can file a defense to repayment claims three years from either the student’s date of graduation or withdrawal from the institution.
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