Westwood College | Think Before You Hand Over Your Money

Westwood College accused of fraud

Last month, Westwood College paid the U.S. government $7 million for violations of the False Claims Act. The violations involve recruiting and reporting infringements.

Westwood College, owned by Alta Colleges, Inc., has 17 campuses. The school, made $250 million last year, was accused of knowingly violating  more than 14 provisions of the Texas Educational and Administrative Codes.

No admission

The U.S. government accused Westwood College of lying to students during the recruitment process. The filed complaint also said Alta misrepresented graduation rates, employment rates and quality of education for certification in reports to the federal government.

However, the case was dropped after Westwood College agreed to pay the $7 million. Alta Colleges CEO George Burnett says the school did not do anything wrong.

Allegations

Paying the find won’t help students, or their parents, who took out hefty personal loans to pay for attending Westwood College. Many will still need debt relief help in order to be able to pay off their tuition bills. Several former employees of Westwood College say that recruiters lied to prospective students. From the Consumer Warning Network:

Recruiters would promise students that credits could transfer to another school, when there was no known accredited school in Texas that would accept Alta's credits. They would promise that more than 90% of past graduates had jobs in their field with Alta's help, even if the student was signing up for a program that didn't have any past graduates. The real average for employment is just over 50%, and less than a third had any help from Alta. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Westwood College | Think Before You Hand Over Your Money"