Documents

The Class Action Lawsuit filed in Arbitration

• Complaint – This is what we filed laying out all of our claims  (PDF file)
• Respondents’ Answer – This is what Westwood College filed in response to our complaint (PDF file)
• Procedural Order Number One – This was after our first hearing with the arbitrator.  Most of the information is about scheduling, but you can see the dates for the first couple of deadlines (PDF file)
• Motion for Clause Construction Award – This is our first motion where we ask the arbitrator to make an order saying that the arbitration agreement drafted by the school allows our case to proceed as a class action (PDF file)
• Respondents’ Motion to Stay Proceedings and Opposition to Clause Construction Award
• Claimants’ Reply to Opposition to Motion for Clause Construction and Response to Motion to Stay Proceedings

The Texas Class Action Lawsuit filed in Travis County, Texas

• Texas Original Petition – This is what we filed laying out all of our claims of Westwood operating without state license in the State of Texas.  Filed Nov. 9, 2009.  (PDF file)

Media Attention

• Click here for the story that Al Lewis from the Dow Jones Newswire wrote for Fox Business and the Denver Post.
• Click here, and here, and here for coverage of Westwood College’s settlement with the federal government for $7 million to end a suit regarding their deceptive trade practices.  I wrote the last story for a consumer advocacy website.
• Click here to see a blogger who confirms that Westwood is now paying them to write blog posts that look like the blogger actually just had something nice to say about the school.  Two other blogs removed my comments when I asked if they were in the same situation.
• Click here, and here, and here, and here for AP IMPACT: For-Profit Colleges Boost Enrollment By Lending to Students with Shaky Credit, by Justin Pope.  Featuring Jessica Rosales, one of the plaintiffs in our case, who was hit with an 18% loan that she was never told about.
• Click here for Diploma Mills and Debt Peonage: A Neo-Liberal Arts Education, a great article by Danny Weil discussing diploma mills and for-profit colleges that highlights our case.  Mr. Weil does a great job summarizing the allegations in our complaint and illustrating the devastating impact that Westwood’s actions have on the students.
• Click here for The Subprime Student Loan Racket, by Stephen Burd,  a fantastic in-depth article about subprime lending at for-profit schools.  The article examines the industry at large, and discusses our case briefly towards the end.
• Click here for the Houston report and here for the Dallas report about the operation of Westwood College Online in Texas without state approval.
• Click here for the Denver report about our on-going class action.
• Click here for the Newsweek article by David Graham about schools lending at extremely high interest rates, featuring former student Tyrone Bailey and former employee Inez Moore.

Additional Information

• Click here for the testimony that Jillian gave for the Department of Education regarding the deceptive trade practices of the for-profit college industry.  If you want to see the response from Westwood, click here – you can decide how sincere Mr. Walton sounds.
• Click here for consumer complaints from Rip-Off Report and click here for consumer complaints from Complaints Board.
• Click here for the letter from the Colorado Department of Higher Education to Westwood College initiating an investigation into complaints of deceptive trade practices.
• Click here for the letter from the Texas Workforce Commission to Westwood College Online initiating an investigation into the operation of Westwood College Online in the state of Texas without the required state licenses.