DeVry Class Action Says Grads’ Employment Prospects Exaggerated

A group of DeVry graduates claim the school unlawfully lured new students by falsely inflating its graduates’ employment statistics.

Six plaintiffs from several different states say DeVry failed to live up to its purported promises of job prospects for its graduates.

Plaintiffs say they relied on DeVry’s optimistic representations about its graduates’ employment outlook when they enrolled at the school and got their degrees.

But all six plaintiffs allege they were unable to find a job in their chosen field of study after graduation.

According to the plaintiffs, DeVry has claimed for more than a decade that 90 percent of its graduates who were actively seeking employment got jobs within six months of graduation. The plaintiffs claim this representation is false.

Plaintiffs say DeVry sometimes represents the 90 percent figure as a statistic for 2012 graduates only and other times applies it to graduating classes from throughout the school’s decades-long history.

A brochure that DeVry purportedly made available on its website allegedly stated: “For over 30 years, 90% of all DeVry graduates in the active job market have been employed in their field of study within six months of graduation.”

A footnote connected to that statement allegedly reads: “Active job market includes those already employed prior to graduation.”

They cite a DeVry television ad from 2013 that purportedly invited viewers to “[j]oin the 90%.” Other ads with similar content were televised from 2010 through 2016, the plaintiffs say, and they allude to print advertisements that also feature the “Join the 90%” message.

The plaintiffs also argue the 90 percent figure is unsupported by DeVry’s own statistics. The figure allegedly includes graduates who should have been excluded – such as those who after graduating continued working the same jobs they had when they enrolled at DeVry.

Plaintiffs also say the figure includes graduates working in fields other than their fields of study, some of whom were working in customer service, foodservice, or as unpaid volunteers.

The DeVry class action lawsuit raises claims under the consumer protection laws of the plaintiffs’ five home states, plus a common law claim for unjust enrichment.

The plaintiffs are proposing to represent a nationwide Class consisting of all persons who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, got a degree from DeVry but could not find employment within their chosen field of study within six months following graduation.

They also propose to represent one subclass each from their home states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oregon.

They seek an injunction that would stop DeVry from continuing its allegedly deceptive advertisements. The plaintiffs are also asking for an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Theodore B. Bell, Carl Malmstrom and Thomas H. Burt of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC and Thomas J. McKenna and Gregory M. Egleston of Gainey McKenna & Egleston.

The DeVry False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Petrizzo, et al. v. DeVry Education Group Inc., et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-09754, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: The DeVry False Advertising class action lawsuit was dismissed on February 12, 2018.