MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I’ve deleted the snottiness tangent. Let’s get back to topic.
A College Chain Crumbles, and Millions in Student Loan Cash Disappears
About 26,000 students are caught in the meltdown at Dream Center. The Education Department has scrambled to salvage their educations after it approved an unlikely turnaround plan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/business/argosy-college-art-insititutes-south-university.html
The Art Institutes in Seattle and Hollywood are shutting down today (Friday, March 8).
Yes, @simba9 and @oldmom4896 - they are all part of the massive Argosy debacle. Stealing and reallocating the student loans is disgraceful. They deserve to be thrown in jail for that. But its terrible for the students, some of whom are so close to finishing and now may have nothing to show for it. Hopefully if they dump the credits they can get loan forgiveness. Many schools will not accept much in the way of transferring credits, and the student will essentially have to start all over but be not he hook for all the loans. Some here are starting go fund me accounts so students don’t lose their apartments. Horrible!
Ugh that article makes me SO angry. Pure theft on the part of…a church?
I didn’t know college of new rochelle was closing. It makes me really sad. Its nearby and they had a good nursing school. I feel like the community is losing a good resource. It seems like the closings are schools that mostly cater to kids who might not have had the best high school record but are motivated and could really improve their lives through college. The high stat kids will always have a place to go. But I worry about the “average” kid.
I came on to see if anyone had posted about that chain closing. I am livid about the way government oversight has been essentially eliminated for for-profits and quasi-non-profits like this that are cheating students out of their money and their education.
I would like to think that this story will change the Department of Education approach, but no evidence points to that happening.
It looks like the owning missionary organization, Dream Center, had become financially insolvent and filed for receivership in January.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/21/nonprofit-dream-center-institutions-placed-receivership
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/04/argosy-students-lose-out-millions-dollars-federal-aid-goes-missing
A slight tangent, but I’ll bring it up because people have complained about how the government enables the for-profits that cheat people out of their money. When I was in the Air Force in the late 70’s-early 80’s the base education office offered on-base classes from established schools ranging from the local community college, to Chico State, Chapman College, the University of Southern California, and the University of Maryland. (I’m sure I’m forgetting a few.) I happened to check out the on-base offerings from the base education office now - Embry-Riddle, University of Phoenix, and a Bible college, Embry-Riddle makes some sense since it’s an Air Force base, but it doesn’t really offer anything outside of aviation classes. I was actually pretty angry that the people in Washington responsible for the base education offices were otherwise only offering classes from the University of Phoenix and a Bible college. For anyone who actually wants a credible education, those are useless.
@dfbdfb - yes the physical issues left behind (ie the buildings) are a big issue. In Lancaster MA, Atlantic Union College shut its doors and there are many big buildings left on Main St. What happens to these now - ??? Unfortunately some fall into disrepair and end up as big eyesores and problems for taxpayers.
But Simba9, are those just the schools that offer a physical class on the base? Things are different now because so much is available online. Embry Riddle offers a lot more than aviation classes, although maybe only online and not AT the base.
Everyone hates U of Phoenix but I know several people with degrees from there who are very successful. Most are from years ago when they had more physical classrooms and less online, but every U of Phoenix degree is not a scam.
University of Maryland used to have profs on Army bases in Germany in the 70s – my dad took classes there. UMD also had a branch in Munich, which is where lots of Army kids who graduated from DoD schools went if they wanted to stay in Europe longer. When I was in 6th grade, that’s where I wanted to go if we were stationed there again. It was the first college I dreamed of. UMUC, the successor to that program, does online and in-person classes and still is popular with folks on active duty. (Wikipedia has an article on the Munich program. There’s also an 80s YouTube video.)
Yes, University College was one of the 5 branches of UM when it was a separate system and Univ College was the overseas division. It was equal to all branches - College Park, @Baltimore (the professional schools), Eastern Shore, and Baltimore County. The President went to graduation in Europe.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst would be a good fit for Hampshire. And if Amherst has disdain for the consortium and dropped out no one would really notice it, tbh.
Top school and an excellent LAC for sure. But not a lot of students rushing to take classes there. Maybe from smith and moho. Usually it’s students from the lacs in the consortium taking an advanced class at the university.
In fact. It usually the LAC posters who mention the consortium as valuable attribute when comparing against other lacs. And a lot of these posts are from Amherst supporters. Not sure why they wouldn’t like it and then mention it so often.
Hampshire hopefully makes it.
In the end, UMass will crank out another 20 Fulbright scholars this year. And Smith and MoHo students will visit there for an advanced science class or two plus the great food. It’s all good.
Yet another college shuts down in Vermont. After Green Mountain college and Southern Vermont college now we can add College of St Joseph to the list… let’s see if Goddard College will join in a few months
Very bad year for higher education in Vermont but expected sadly with the low birth rate… even the regional state schools can’t maintain their enrollment
Following is the link to today’s Inside Higher Ed article about the closing of The College of St. Joseph (Vermont):
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/22/college-st-joseph-vermont-announces-it-will-close
@airway1 The “good news” for the remaining colleges is that every other college which closes increases the ratio of student to college in Vermont, potentially increasing their enrollment and longevity.
Hiwassee College (Tennessee) is closing, while Wheeling Jesuit University (W.V.) is slashing and burning. See the following link to the Inside Higher Ed article:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/29/hiwassee-college-will-close
Outside of the Northeast!
(And Wheeling Jesuit is killing all of its liberal arts programs?? Dang.)
My daughter’s team played Wheeling Jesuit in two seasons. Almost all the players were in some kind of health care major - nursing, physical therapy, sports training. Maybe they are just giving the people what they want. Just because they aren’t offering majors in English and history doesn’t mean they aren’t offering classes in those subjects.