Dive Brief:
- Globe University and the Minnesota School of Business will repay costs for tuition, books and learning materials and fees to more than 1,200 students who enrolled in the two institutions after 2009.
- A decision in a 2014 lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general was upheld by a county judge, which said the two schools defrauded students in the schools’ criminal justice programs, which did not facilitate students qualifying for jobs as police officers in Minnesota as they had promised in marketing materials.
- Both schools closed this month after being barred from receiving federal student aid disbursements last year by the U.S. Department of Education.
Dive Insight:
No one knows if the incoming presidential administration will uphold many of the standards enacted by the Obama Administration, but if the barring of schools from federal aid for underperforming programs or judicial decisions of fraudulent marketing are any part of the holdover, many schools could face serious implications in the near future.
College leaders at two-year institutions and smaller liberal arts colleges should work closely with accrediting officials to identify potential areas of concern in academic performance. Additionally, schools should connect with federal officials to help broker relationships with federal labor resources to establish best practices in skills training for students and graduates, before lawsuits and federal guidance shape their futures with negative effects.
