When the giant for-profit college ITT abruptly went out of business, thousands of students were left in the cold with worthless college credits and massive student loans that did not result in better job prospects. In addition, taxpayers were left having to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in defaulted federal student loans. All of this has been a cautionary tale for prospective students looking to get ahead by going to college. One of the takeaways from the ITT debacle? Beware of aggressive college recruiters.
As part of the ITT bankruptcy proceedings, a group of students filed an intervention, in which they attached hundreds of testimonials from former students and employees of ITT who had been deceived by ITT, or were disillusioned with the experience of having worked for ITT. Their identities were kept anonymous. The following are some powerful testimonials that illustrate that you should take a step back before falling for a college recruiter’s sales pitch:
- Student number 7009 from Anaheim, California, reported that ITT: “[P]romised me a job before graduation, “tons of companies are hiring our students left and right” was promised i’ll be making more money than it costs for you to obtain this degree w/ in 2 years of graduating well before the first payment of your loans will due for repayment.”
- Student number 8996 from San Dimas, California revealed that: “When I decided to enter ITT Tech to better myself and education and seeing through all their phony commercials about how peoples lives changed I decided to go there. I was promised and guaranteed that after my bachelors program i would have a high paying job. Making at least 60K – 100K a year. The recruiters were calling me everyday. They never stop calling you. I used my hard earned Military Benefits GI Bill and it all got sucked up dry at this school. I had to take out a loan that they gave me from Nelnet, to complete my final year of my BA program.”
- Student number 9171 from Torrance, California, said that: “I was and still am interested in a career as a Probation Officer but when I met with the recruiter he gave me a tour of the facility and then took me in his office and preceded to fill my head with a promising career that never came through. He breezed over the loans and when I did question how much I would be paying back he told me that I wouldn’t have anything to worry about because I would be making 90,000.00 a year and I could handle the payments.”
- Student number 8987 from Fort Myers, Florida wrote that: “I was enrolled in the school without a chance to think about my decision. [T]he recruiter was very pushy into getting me to sign up with ANY PROGRAM at that very first visit. []I remember us having “assistance” from a job finder rep telling my self and other students that ATLEAST 70% of students land a job in their field after graduation but when I decided to reach out to her, she was never to be found. [] I also remember one of my professors named Mr. Neil promising to fellow students and my self that after graduation, we would all make 150k+ a year working on orange juice plants or milk plants as engineers (He actually drew it out on the white board).”
If you attended DeVry in the last ten years based on pushy recruiters and the promise of a higher paying job, you are not alone. In addition, you may be entitled to money damages. Call us. Moss Bollinger has successfully worked on DeVry settlements and want to fight for your legal rights. We don’t charge any fees up front and only get paid when you do. Call our office at 866-942-7974, or contact us online.
