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The University of Phoenix will pay $191 million to end the Federal Trade Commission’s allegations that the for-profit school falsely represented job and networking opportunities to prospective students.
The University of Phoenix settlement requires that the school pay $50 million in cash and to cancel a total of $141 million in debts owed to the school from students who decided to attend based on the misrepresentations.
NBC News notes that the University of Phoenix settlement is the largest one that the Federal Trade Commission has ever reached with a for-profit university.
In its complaint against the University of Phoenix, the Federal Trade Commission took issue with an ad campaign called “Let’s Get To Work” that was launched in 2012 and ran through 2014.
In the campaign, the school reportedly advertised that it had valuable connections with companies like AT&T, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter, and the American Red Cross which could help get students jobs at these desirable organizations.
However, the FTC’s investigation discovered that these connections did not exist because the school did not have agreements with the companies.
According to the FTC, this advertising campaign was damaging, because job opportunities and professional connections are a major factor that students use to decide what college to attend. Allegedly, some students might not have decided to attend the University of Phoenix had they known that the school did not really have these valuable opportunities and connections.
The University of Phoenix denied the claims, but agreed to settle “to avoid further distractions from serving students,” according to NBC.
Per the terms of the settlement deal, the University of Phoenix and its owner, Apollo Education Group, will cancel all remaining student debt for students who enrolled between Oct. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2016. Eligible students will receive a letter stating that they are no longer in debt to the school.
The settlement also stipulates that the university must provide $50 million to compensate consumers who were allegedly misled by the ad campaign in question. In addition to monetary compensation, the for-profit institution must stop misrepresenting its relationship with potential employers and companies, says the FTC.
USA Today explains that the University of Phoenix launched the 2012 ad campaign in an effort to help the University of Phoenix differentiate itself from competitors.
The previous ad campaign for the school reportedly focused on flexibility and convenience of the school’s online course offerings. However, the school’s enrollment was allegedly falling, so the university launched the “Let’s Get to Work” campaign in an attempt to attract students.
The FTC claimed that the university touted relationships with companies not based on real connections with the companies, but with “desired brand association” with popular and well-regarded populations in order to drive students to apply to the University of Phoenix.
Did you see the University of Phoenix’s “Let’s Get to Work” ad campaign? Let us know what you think of the recent FTC settlement in the comment section below!
The FTC is represented in-house by Alden F. Abbott, Thomas J. Widor, Stephanie Cox, and Adam Wesolowski.
The University of Phoenix FTC Lawsuit is Federal Trade Commission v. The University of Phoenix Inc., et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-05772-ESW, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
UPDATE: The TCA University of Phoenix investigation is now open! If you are a Texas or California resident and were misled by University of Phoenix’s representations about job prospects, and did not get a job in your field of study after graduation, submit your information here!
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44 thoughts onUniversity of Phoenix to Forgive $141M in Student Debt in FTC Settlement
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UPDATE: The TCA University of Phoenix investigation is now open! If you are a Texas or California resident and were misled by University of Phoenix’s representations about job prospects, and did not get a job in your field of study after graduation, submit your information here!
MBA and &400 months student loan payments. Same old job.
the link takes me nowhere. where can I give my info. I am one of these people. I even went back for a Masters because I couldn’t get a job with the BA I got from there.
I was taking online courses with Apollo edu. Group of University of Phoenix about 9yrs go to best myself with education and I just need one math.. class to finish my social. But I didn’t finish because of Ipersonal and finance problems. 42, ooo in student debit.
Add me.
I was misled by the university of Phoenix, and I have $36,000 in debt, I tried to be part of the lawsuit, and never heard back, shouldn’t I get my degree, if I owe
This is what I found and I have applied for loan forgiveness based on UoP fraudulent tactics. It will walk you through and ask you a tone of questions. I read some reviews and some people say, that their debt was not forgiven and some say that all or majority of their debt was forgiven. I guess it’s a case by case basis. Now, each person did say, it takes a great deal of time. I applied like 4 months ago and haven’t heard back as of yet. So, it doesn’t hurt to apply because even though it’s a class action, they are not apply the $141M to offset the students federal or private loan debts, only debts that owed to the school. Students basically have to prove that UoP used deceptive tactics to get them to enroll and to stay enrolled. This is based on what I read.
“The settlement requires UOP to pay $50 million to the Commission, which will be used for consumer redress, and to cancel approximately $141 million in debts owed to UOP by former students who first enrolled during the time period consumers were likely exposed to UOP’s deceptive advertising.
This settlement will not affect student borrowers’ federal or private loan obligations. Borrowers looking to lower their monthly payments on federal loans can obtain free information from the United States Department of Education about income-driven repayment plans, and those who believe they have been defrauded or deceived can apply for loan forgiveness through the Borrower Defense to Repayment procedures. Applying for these programs does not cost anything. Student borrowers should steer clear of debt relief scams that charge thousands of dollars for services that are available for free.”
I graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2006 with a master’s degree in management and could move beyond a secretarial position. I then entered their Doctoral program after being stirred away from a Project Management Certification program and instead I was told by my academic advisor at the University of Phoenix that the Doctoral program would be good for me. I began matriculating into the Doctoral Program in Management in 2009. I completed all of my coursework by 2013 and that is when I hit a brick wall with my dissertation. I was forced to continue taking dissertation classes and attending residences with little or no assistance from my advisors. This went on through 2016. During these residencies, I and other doctoral students were verbally chastised and redirected in changing many of our dissertation topics despite the time and research put into the project with our advisors. My dissertation was all but complete when I was informed by instructors at the residencies that my topic would not be approved and that I would not I and other colleagues “will continue to stay in low paying jobs until we earn our doctoral degree.” PLEASE HELP ME I AM 200K IN STUDENT LOAN DEBT!
I graduated UoP in 2011 and they were supposede to return some of my funding and they never did. The NSLD is still showing the money as being paid to UoP. Is there anything I can do about this?
I graduated from the UOP in 2018. I have not found a job yet. I am on a fixed income and need to know if I qualify for loan forgiveness.
When I first signed up for the school, I was told that it would be a two year program. After attending for two years I was then informed that it was a four year program.
I don’t feel that some of the classes was applicable to the program that I was enrolled in. I was in the Healthcare Administration and to make it a four year program, they had me take Criminal Law, American History, and Religion classes.
I was also enrolled in the healthcare administration program at UOP. After attending for three years I just wasn’t getting anywhere. Now U0P has sent me to collections. How do I get involved in this class action suit?
How do I sign up with lawsuit against UOP. Sign me up.
How do I join this list against UOP?
I was a student at UOP and I was over charged and MISLEAD THIS SCHOOL IS A RIP OFF AND VERY MISLEADING can someone PLEASE ADD ME TO THIS LAW SUITE PLEASE