University of Phoenix Targeted the Military
In June 2015, a investigative story broke that the University of Phoenix was making payments of $250,000 per year to the military for access to military bases. What was the University doing there? They were holding recruiting fairs and other activities with the purpose of convincing active military members to enroll at the University of Phoenix.
The reason they were doing this is because of a loophole in the “90/10” law, which allows for-profit colleges to double dip into federal funding when they have access to a military member’s G.I. Bill benefits. Basically, there is an enormous financial incentive to target military members. In fact, as of 2015, University of Phoenix was the nation’s most prolific beneficiaries of G.I. Bill money, collecting over $1 billion since 2009.
University of Phoenix Lives Off Federal Money
Beyond military benefits, University of Phoenix makes its’ primary living from Federal student loans. Before the college was bought and went private, University of Phoenix reported that a massive 81% of its revenue came from federal student loans. Further, it is well known that for-profit colleges account for some of the highest student loan default rates among all colleges. The combination of these two factors spells disaster for taxpayers, who ultimately foot the bill for defaulted Federal loans. In fact, it has been estimated that the University of Phoenix received $6 billion in federal funds over a three-year period. Of that, $1.6 billion were defaulted federal loans.
University of Phoenix Went Private
In 2016, the parent company of the University of Phoenix began the process of going from a publicly traded company to a private one. This occurred after years of decreasing student enrollment, investigations of false or misleading advertising, and increased regulation from the Department of Education. What this means is that they no longer have the duty to disclose their numbers in SEC filings. So it remains to be seen whether the University has followed through on changing their business model of primarily relying on federal student loans to stay afloat. Also muddying the waters is the Trump administration’s expected repeal of Obama-era regulation on for-profit colleges. For these reasons, it is increasingly important that you hire an attorney if you have been ripped-off by a for-profit college. An attorney will fight for you in ways that the government will not.
If You Attended Devry in the Last Ten Years, You May Be Eligible for Payments
Moss Bollinger is working on DeVry settlements and may be able to help you. We will work hard to get you every cent you deserve, regardless of whether you received FTC settlement money. Call the attorneys at Moss Bollinger today at (866) 535-2994 or use our online form. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.
