A class action lawsuit alleges that Northcentral University misrepresents its doctoral program, leading students to believe the program takes between three and a half and five years to complete, when really, it takes nearly seven years.
Allegedly, the for-profit university does this to maximize the profits it can gain from students trying to complete a doctorate.
Plaintiff Christina Torres says that she was enrolled in a doctoral program through Northcentral University from 2010 to 2017, aiming to get a doctorate in education.
Allegedly, she chose the program in part because it was advertised as taking an average of 40 months to complete. However, she says she discovered later, during her enrollment, that the program was designed to take much longer.
The Northcentral University class action lawsuit says other communication from the school sent a year later stated the program took an average of 47 moths, and the length of โ47โ months was articulated in a range of disclosure documents from the school.
This timeline was allegedly stated by the school multiple times, both in writing, and verbally by school representatives, between 2010 and 2013.
However, on Jan. 29, 2015, the Northcentral University class action alleges that the school admitted that the Ed.D. program was โdesigned to take 81 months,โ or almost seven years, and would cost $49,058 in tuition, as opposed to $30,600, which was advertised to Torres.
Additionally, Torres says that she saw on the website that only 63 percent of students who graduated did so in 81 months, and did not address how many students enrolled but did not graduate.
Allegedly, in 2016, the numbers changed again. Torres claims that in 2016, NCU stated that the program was designed to take 81 โ 83 months, cost $50,958 in tuition.
The Northcentral University class action claims the school stated that only 41 percent of students who graduated did so in 83 months, meaning that the average time for students to complete the program was longer than seven years.
The NCU doctoral program says that NCU intentionally misrepresents the length of time needed to complete its doctoral programs, and misrepresents the tuition a student will incur when completing the program.
Torres claims that the program is not designed to help students succeed and graduate, but is set up with numerous roadblocks in place to cause students to take a long time to graduate, thereby paying more tuition and giving more profits to the for-profit university.
Allegedly, many students are forced to drop out to pay off their ever-mounting student debt, and never earn a degree after years of work in the doctoral program.
Torres says that the fact that the program is completed online isolates students from one another, so that they cannot share experiences and see if the difficulties and misrepresentationsย they are experiencing are consistent among students or unique to their experience.
The plaintiff is represented by Adam B. Wolf and Tracey B. Cowan of Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane A Professional Law Corporation, and by Paul Lesko.
The Northcentral University Doctoral Program Class Action Lawsuit is Christina Torres v. Northcentral University Inc., Case No. 3:18-cv-02069-BEN-WVG, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego Division.
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105 thoughts onNorthcentral University Class Action: Doctoral Program Misrepresented
Count me in. They ripped me off, too. How do I add my name to this lawsuit?
I am also interested
I also was in the doctoral program at Northcentral University and experienced the same scenario as others who have written their comments. All of my work was accepted by professors during the course work, but when it came to the dissertation part of the program, nothing was good enough. I transferred to three different advisors for the dissertation and it was nothing but constant rewrite of what had already been graded and approved. I was informed I would fail, but I could take a remedial course for $2,700. If I didnโt pass that course, I would be able to take a second remedial course for another $2,700 and they were sure I would be passed during the second remedial course. Just a way to put me further in debt on my student loan for $5,400. I would be willing to join on a class action suit against this organization. Even when I tried to challenge their decision, the documentation and long drawn-out process was not worth my time knowing they would never return the monies charged.
I was just speaking to this university the other day. They are in a rush to get you enrolled. I shared that Iโm not ready yet and with COVID I donโt know how my real teaching job will look so why would I spend so much money right now. They pushed and pushed. I liked what I saw for classes but something wasnโt feeling right. I found this information today. Iโm so sorry for everything that has happened to all of you. This shouldnโt be allowed. My search continues.
Iโm sorry for everyone too.
I too just experienced the same situation and have lost thousands. I have did what I needed to do to stay in the doctoral program and it did not work. So I too, like Torres want to take my situation higher. I will pursue litigation for a refund.
No matter what any university does to promote the advancement of knowledge, there will unfortunately always be money hungry whiners ready to sue because they feel entitled. I attended NCU during the same time timeframe as this plaintiff. I experienced none of what she claims. NCU is a top notch, ethically run university. I hope the plaintiff and all involved in initiating this law suitโฆdo not prevail.
How much are you being paid for this silly post? Why canโt you use your real name like others posting on here? SMT! Scammer school!
Was this settled? My husband had a very similar experience and dropped out because of it.
I am going through this at the school right now. I suggest that you press the โStart a Class Actionโ button and fill it out. There is strength in numbers.
How do I get in on this lawsuit? Iโve had a similar experience but with the masterโs program.
I would like to know if โPinPoint,โ a legitimate company to help recover Student loan debt?
I also was a victim of this โuniversity. โ Please contact me. I attended at the same time as Ms. Torres.
They are still doing this. They added more than $20,000 worth of classes, which were all the dissertation classes. So instead of two or three, they added more than six more classes. How do I get in on this class action lawsuit?
Like other commentators here, NCU preyed on me as well with deceptive program completion times.