A hard hitting story on WFTS TV, the ABC station in Tampa, exposed questionable practices in recruiting and job placement at the 2nd largest for-profit college company in the nation, Education Management Corporation, known as EDMC.
The company is at the center of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former EDMC Admissions Representative Jason Sobek, who is represented by the James Hoyer Law Firm. EDMC operates several for-profit colleges, including The Art Institutes, South University, Argosy University and Brown Mackie College.
In the report, Sobek was interviewed and explained that recruiters at the schools were encouraged to say whatever it takes to sign students up:
“We were trained to target low-income students, single mothers, women staying at women’s shelters,” Sobek said.
I-Team investigator Michael George asked Sobek why those groups were targeted.
“They were easy victims,” Sobek said.
But there was more to it than that. Sobek says low-income students were desired because they qualify for the most federal aid. EDMC’s schools received $1.8 billion dollars in federal grants and loans in 2010 alone, according a report on for-profit schools by the U.S. Senate. That’s taxpayer money.
