Thread regarding Corinthian Colleges Inc. layoffs

Well Mr. Watts, you obviously looked at things with rosy glasses. The reality is these kids/adults are not getting what they signed on for. And are paying for more than what they're getting in return. It's good that you feel good about what you do, but it's clear that there are a whole bunch of people here who don't feel the way that you do.

Appreciate the response Tom. I agree with your points , sadly neither you nor I are in any position to do anythng about it. I always hated the term 'same-day/month-enrollments'. I would always take time to make any major purchase/investment. People who buy on emotion for a logical item, is inherrently wrong. I sold insurance door-to-door in the 90's, and my boss would freak out if I came back empty handed. My reply was always, "If they buy tomorrow or the next day, or the next week, there's a 117% chance they actually KEEP what they bought." The point being that in early 2012 admissions was changed to give people that cool down period to do their own discovery on costs, returns, and options. If people still make those choices after having the time to do so, I can feel no shame in those decisions. In terms of the career options, Wyotech offers needed skills and trades, (I should point out, I was with Everest for a year) so I'm good with what I do.

12875, which programs do you have at your campus? When I was working for CCi (admittedly, up until the beginning of 2013), there wasn't a program on campus that you could enter for less than $17,000. That was back when the Pell Grant for a 0 EFC student was $5,500 and federally backed student loans (one of the most onerous forms of debt ever devised by mankind) were $9,500 for a year. That left about $2,000 in a private loan. Thus, every single student who finished their program left with $11,500 in total debt, none of which was dischargable in bankruptcy and lacked basic consumer protections. That's a lot of debt, and it was even worse if they went into MA, which was our longest modular program. In Jacksonville, we had degree-seeking programs, which were exponentially worse.

It varies greatly depending on the student situation. Sure, community colleges cost a whole lot less, but then many of our students wouldn't succeed in them. They need a lot of hand holding to just enroll, and even more to progress. many of them get full financial aid, meaning almost $6K per academic year in Pell, and often other free money. So for quite a few, especially in the shorter programs, the debt isn't all that high. They usually need to start paying $50 or so a month 6 months after they leave. For someone going from two 29 hour a week minimum wage fast food jobs to $12 an hour and normal hours/benefits, that's not bad. We have a lot of dedicated people who have put their blood, sweat and tears into helping these students. management is unethical and greedy, that's for sure. But we've helped people.

No problem. I worked for 4 years at the Jacksonville Everest University campus, starting back when it was FMU in 2007. I worked in both Student Finance and the short-lived Student Success department. In 2011, I moved to Philadelphia for personal reasons, and worked in Student Finance at the Bensalem campus until January of 2013. I do agree that the entire education system needs an adjustment to its costs, but you have to start where the problem is the worst. I saw no real issues at the campus level, in the sense of criminal or unethical acts (other than an awful lot of incompetence from campus management in Bensalem), but the entire model is flawed. A major part of the college premium in earnings is based on the reputation of the school, and Everest's reputation is severely negative. Same day enrollments were coveted by management, which is extremely shady. Again, which college to attend is a major financial decision, and there is no reason to ask some of the most vulnerable citizens in our country to make it alone without all the details. For profit education, without serious changes to the entire higher education funding system, is a dubious ethical endeavour to begin with. It's a direct pipeline of public money into private hands, with little or no oversight. Even large public universities can manage to scrape up some donors to help with the bills. There are rules, which career education companies circumvent with regularity, forbidding more than 90% (!) of the school's income from coming directly from the government. A company with that type of cash flow has a really hard time making a complaint that they shouldn't be subject to government regulation.

CCi is a Ford Fiesta at Ferrari prices sold to those who cannot afford to borrow $2 for a cup of coffee. But if it's "student loan debt," lenders are more willing to lend, since the debt generally cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

Tom LaPorta, if you don't want to give details it's cool, but may I ask when you worked, where you worked, and for how long did you work in that capacity? You state the cost is severely overpriced, to some people so is a Ferrari, but some people will still buy it although it serves the same function as the Ford Fiesta. The analogy may be completely out of place, but the national education system as a WHOLE needs to be fixed, and I think some things are being directed in one area, where they should be directed in others.

The issue isn't that no one succeeds. It's that the entire business is predicated on the fact that most or all prospective students aren't able to see what a raw deal the education is. It's grotequesly overpriced (with the tuition based on how much first year students are eligible to receive instead of the actual cost of the education), and every single student needs either a private loan or to make a large cash payment in addition to federal student loans. Most of the careers that Everest provides training for are $12 per hour jobs, many of which you can get even without the Everest training. I've spoken with friends in the retail pharmacy business, and many employers in that sector see an Everest education as a hindrance. However, when I worked at CCi, we made it a point to try to enroll students the same day, so that they wouldn't find out all that stuff before they started. You have a serious problem if your entire business is based on getting people to spend $20,000 or more on a first visit and without all the inormation (and in some cases, without the resources or knowledge to get all the information). After about my first year, I knew it was a scam. I just wish that I'd had the courage to get out sooner.

I went to the casino, put $100 on 33 and walked away with my $3,600. I'm not sure why others had any complaint.

Well said Mike. I am a faculty member and love what I do and get the satisfaction of seeing my grads get employment in their chosen profession. I hope and pray my students get an opportunity to complete their program and gain success in their achievements. It's about them at this point. I sleep at night knowing I act and behave in integrity.

We helped a lot of students to better themselves, and we should be proud. We may end up being tainted by the company's bad reputation, but the vast majority of employees always went the extra mile for our students. It's a shame that the few were unethical and greedy, but for the most part our students benefited, thanks to dedicated instructors and student services staff. I know I'm speaking in the past tense, and I do hope that something can be salvaged from this mess. I'm gone either way, though. Enough is enough.

You just found out the hard way how these for profits work...it's NOT about the students.

The question is whether the cost justifies the benefit. No doubt there will be a successful story here and there, but if there are too many losers, then it's not worth the cost. There are also success stories in management. While you were making a few dollars an hour teaching, some were earning over $100 an hour. How much do you think Campus Presidents 'earn?'

Well said. 1,000% agree.