The class arbitration is still stayed while we are waiting on a decision from the Supreme Court about another arbitration case. The Supreme Court case has nothing to do with Westwood, but there may be some procedural issues that overlap so our arbitrator wanted to wait and see how that one turns out to be sure we proceed properly. We believe the decision will come out in the next few months, hopefully June at the latest. As soon as there is more information available, we’ll let you know. While we’re waiting on that, we are well underway with seeking and providing discovery for the named Claimants.

The class action case in Texas is also proceeding and we are in the discovery phase for that case as well. There are some up-coming pleading deadlines in the beginning of April, so we will post the new documents as they are publicly filed.

Also, largely as a result of the word of mouth of students like you, we have had an outpouring of requests for investigations into other for-profit career colleges. We are beginning investigations of the schools that appear to have real problems, and have set up a website for students from other schools than Westwood to seek and provide information. If your friends have attended other online schools and are looking for help, you can direct them to www.OnlineSchoolProblems.com.  At the top and on the right side of the page is a link to “Tell Us Your Story” where they can submit their information.

Lastly, I’ve updated the FAQ page to reflect some of the questions we’re getting these days.  If you have questions about how these cases work, your role in the case, your student loans, etc., please check there first.  If you’re still not sure, then you can contact me by clicking here.

Best,

Jillian

We’ve learned that Westwood will be under scrutiny next week as the ACICS (Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools) visits its Denver North campus.  This is the body that has given some of Westwood’s campuses their national accreditation. That is not the same as the regional accreditation they are seeking, but have yet to be granted.

The school said in an email to some graduates that it is “gearing up” for the ACICS visit.  Part of that “gearing up” has included advising these graduates that ACICS might be calling them to verify their employment status. A Denver North Graduate Advisor explained it to students this way:

“You have been coded as working in field or in a related field, because you have used 30% of your degree in your post-graduation position, or you were hired based upon skills you learned within your degree (including general education courses).

We have heard from students who are trying to figure out what that means and how you quantify “having used 30% of your degree in your post-graduation position?” We contacted a representative from ACICS to ask how they student should apply this confusing and incredibly broad interpretation of “employed in their field.” The representative did not have any guidance for trying to make sense of this definition, so it will be up to each one of you to decide whether you are “employed in your field” or not.

However, the ACICS representative did tell us that if a student wants to make clear that they don’t believe they are  working in their field, he or she should do so. If you’re contacted, you should be completely honest about your employment position. You may also ask to speak to the ACICS representative rather than to the Westwood employee who will be making the phone call.

Westwood indicated in its email that “the accrediting team calls are only concerning employment,” but don’t be intimidated.  You have the right to tell the ACICS whatever you think is important for them to know about your Westwood experience.

Also, she encouraged any student with a complaint to file one with the ACICS by emailing complaints@acics.org.  Students can also file a complaint as a group.

Thanks for checking in.  Keep letting your voices be heard, and we will make a difference.

Warm Regards,

Jillian

The Denver Post published a front page, in-depth report this Sunday looking at for-profit colleges and how many are cashing in, while leaving students deep in debt and dissatisfied.  Click here to read the Denver Post story.

A former Westwood Admissions Rep was interviewed for the story and tells how they lured students to enroll with high-pressure sales pitches.  Also interviewed, were three former Westwood students who’ve also shared their complaints with the James Hoyer Law firm.

The article is filled with statistics that show just how the schools are profiting off of students who say they often don’t get what the pay for. The report also provides a public service to help educate students, parents and citizens that more questions must be asked when considering whether to attend these schools. Be sure to check it out and let the paper know what you think.

You can also read another story the Denver Post ran Monday, which looks at how for-profit schools may soon face tighter regulations.

Thanks, as always, for checking in.  More updates coming very soon.

Warm Regards,

Jillian

You can read more about the class action arbitration and whether you would be included if the class is certified here.  The case is in a phase right now called “clause construction.”  This step is where our arbitrator will determine whether the agreement that Westwood required each student to sign allows the suit to proceed as a class action.  Right now, there is a case – Stolt-Nielsen v. International AnimalFeeds – being heard before the Supreme Court that our arbitrator wants to hear a decision on before making his determination in our case.  While waiting, our arbitrator has stayed proceedings until the Supreme Court decision or until the end of this Supreme Court term, which is in June.  That means that he will not make a decision on the clause construction issue until then.  However, to keep the case moving forward and to help us continue advocating for the students, the arbitrator has allowed us to seek individual discovery for the four students who are named in the arbitration.  As soon as the stay is lifted, and if we are able to proceed as a class, then we’ll be able to seek the rest of the information relating to the school’s treatment of the rest of the class.  We’re confident that this is an agreeable way for us to be the best advocates for all of you.

The second case is the class action that was filed in Texas regarding the unlicensed operation of Westwood College Online in the state of Texas.  In response to an investigation conducted by the Texas Workforce Commission, Westwood College Online ceased operations in Texas on December 8, 2009.  You can see the correspondence related to the TWC investigation here.  Westwood has filed a Motion to Dismiss our class action lawsuit based on their position that the Texas licensing laws do not apply to them.  We filed a timely response and Westwood’s reply is due this week.  We will post the judge’s determination on this motion when it becomes available.  All of the documents for this case are available on the Documents page.  In the mean time, if you attended Westwood College Online and want to know more about your options, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Additionally, we have now heard from more than 500 students who have come forward to tell their stories.  We’re working on getting those loaded onto the website so you can see what the other students are saying.  The stories are startlingly similar in the tactics used, promises made and the financial and emotional devastation.  We hope that seeing other students stories will remind you that you are not alone in this fight.  Please check back within a week or so for updates on those stories.

We wish you all a happy and safe 2010.  Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns.  We look forward to speaking with each of you.

Warm regards,

Jillian Estes

Sorry to be a few days late in posting these documents – things have been incredibly busy around here!

On Dec. 2, 2009, Westwood had its response brief due to our Motion for Clause Construction.  This is all part of the first step of the arbitration process that Westwood chose, where we ask the arbitrator to determine whether the case is procedurally able to proceed as a class action.  This step doesn’t have anything to do with the merits of the actual case, but is still very important as the School will try to stop all of the students from fighting back with a unified voice.  If any of you choose to read it, you’ll see that Westwood used the opportunity to attack the arbitration process, traditional not-for-profit schools, the James Hoyer firm and even the Westwood students.  As an example, Westwood even spent several pages arguing that national accreditation is actually better than regional accreditation!  I’m guessing that any of you who have tried to transfer your credits, get a higher degree or even get a job probably have something different to say about that…

Claimants’ (the students) Reply was due on Dec. 9, 2009.  We opted to stick to the proper legal proceedings, rather than buy into the temptation to respond to Westwood’s unrelated and inappropriate rantings.  We view their response as a sign of frustration, not as an actual legal argument.  There are proper standards for legal pleadings and we don’t want to compromise our professional integrity just to respond to their low (and inaccurate) blows.  The time for pointing out the flaws to their arguments will certainly come, so be patient.  You can click here for the Documents page with all of the briefs.

We do not ever take for granted how much faith you, as students, have put in us to help you.  We take our obligations very seriously and pride ourselves in being zealous advocates for you.  We have taken every step we can to continue to involve each of you in the proceedings, as this is your case.  We have a phone conference with our arbitrator set up for Friday, Dec. 18 to set a time for oral arguments on the Motion for Clause Construction.  I’ll post an update on here with that information as soon as it’s available.  As we’ve said so many times, we’re here to help you so do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions, comments or concerns.

I am hoping to have an update on the separate class action lawsuit regarding Westwood College Online’s unlicensed operation in Texas.  As soon as I have new information for you, I’ll post it here.

Best to you all,

Jillian

When deciding which school is right for you, it’s essential that you get all the facts.  To help you get started, we’ve prepared some questions you should know the answers to when choosing a school.

Be sure to get clear answers to these important questions.  If you don’t receive a clear answer to any of these questions from the school representatives, ask them again.  And don’t be shy; it’s your right to know this information before deciding on a school.  Finally, ask the school representatives to put their answers in writing and sign them.   It’s your future, so get the facts!

We know that Westwood College has an Open House coming up for potential students, so we’ve tailored these questions to Westwood, but ANY student looking at ANY for-profit college or trade school should ask these questions!   Print them out and take them with you to the Open House, or give a copy to a friend who you know might be looking at attending.

35 Questions You Should Ask Before Picking a College

1. What type of accreditation does the school have?  Is it nationally or regionally accredited?  What does each of these types of accreditation really mean?
2. What organization accredited the school? (Call the organization and confirm)
3. Has the school ever applied for and been denied regional accreditation?
4. Does accreditation have any impact on what I can do with my degree later, including where I can transfer my credits or what jobs I can get?
5. Do any schools accept the transfer of this school’s credits?  If so, which schools?  Call the schools provided to confirm.
6. Will this school allow me to transfer credits from my previous school?  If so, which credits?
7. Call some traditional schools (public universities or community colleges) in your area and ask whether it accepts credits from Westwood College.
8. How long have you offered the ________ program?
9. How long does it take to complete the ________ program?
10. Will the classes that I need to complete the ________ program be offered every session?
11. Will you be adding any classes to the __________ program that might delay my graduation?
12. What is the total graduation rate from Westwood College?  What is the graduation rate for the _________ program?
13. How much does the ________ program cost? Is that the total cost or are there other fees?
14. How much do books cost for the ________ program?  Do I have to buy the books from Westwood or can I look for them somewhere else that might cost less?
15. Does the school increase tuition each term? When was tuition last raised and by how much?  In the past five years, how many times have you raised tuition?
16. What percentage of Westwood graduates from the ________ program have jobs in their field of study within 6 months of graduation?  Ask to see the statistics to confirm this.
17. What types of jobs are considered “working in their field” for graduates of the ________ program?
18. Do I need a degree to get a job in the _________ field?
19. What field experience do the instructors teaching in the ________ program have?
20. From what schools did the instructors in the ________ program get their degrees?
21. What is the student-teacher ratio in Westwood’s classes?
22. Does the school guarantee that every student interested in an internship will get one?
23. Will federal financial aid cover all of my tuition and books?
24. Does the school exhaust all federal financial aid resources before requiring me to take out private loans?
25. Are private loans available from any lenders other than Sallie Mae? If so, which lenders?
26. Will you require that I apply for a Sallie Mae loan before the school will offer me its internal loan?
27. Does this school fund private student loans? If so, what’s the interest rate?
28. What am I expected to pay towards my loans each month while I am in school?  Is that for all my loans, just federal, just private, or just the Westwood loan?
29. How soon after graduation do I have to start paying back my loans?
30. Can I defer my loans if I don’t have a job after graduation?  Is that the same for federal loans, private loans, and the Westwood loans?
31. Does the school help me find a job? If so, before or after graduation?
32. How exactly does the school help me find a job?  Ask to see a copy of at least five recent job placement e-mails sent to Westwood graduates in the ________ program.
33. Does Westwood have any arrangements with companies in the ________ field to employ Westwood graduates?  If so, call those companies to confirm.
34. What career resources are available after I graduate?
35. Contact the Better Business Bureau and/or Attorney General in your State and in the State of Colorado (where Westwood is based) and ask whether complaints have been filed against Westwood College.

College Students Hit by High-Interest Loans, by David Graham, www.Newsweek.com

The class action suit was featured, along with the story of Tyrone Bailey, a Westwood graduate who was unable to use his degree to get job in his field and is now saddled with thousands of dollars of debt for a largely worthless degree.

“Graduation day should have been a happy one for Tyrone Bailey. The first in his family of three children to earn anything beyond a high-school diploma, Bailey, 24, received a bachelor’s in criminal studies from Westwood College in Torrance, Calif., two years ago. But even while the day’s pomp and circumstance played out, his thoughts turned quickly to the tough job market and the $20,000 in loans he borrowed directly from his alma mater that were set to accrue a whopping 18 percent interest rate.”

“Bailey says that process wasn’t strong enough, and he says the interest-rate reduction doesn’t cut it, either. “Here I am stuck with [$20,000] of debt and a degree that’s useless,” says Bailey, who is now working a near-minimum wage job at the Long Beach sanitation department while he works toward a master’s degree online via the University of Phoenix. He says he couldn’t get a job that would pay his loans, so he entered a new degree program in order to defer loan payments. According to Bailey, no traditional school was willing to accept his Westwood credits. That’s common practice—most traditional nonprofit schools rarely accept transfer credits from for-profit institutions because of differences in the accreditation process. “I’m asking for my loans to be forgiven and for them to pay for education at a traditional school; I still want an education so I can start a career.”"

The article also features a former employee of Westwood College who exposes the truth behind the deception.  Ms. Morris said what so many former employees have told us so far – that Westwood knew exactly what it was doing when it lured students into the high-interest loans for massive amounts of debt.

“But the school wasn’t always so empathetic, according to Inez Morris, who was student-aid director at a Westwood campus near Atlanta for a year before being fired in 2006. She told NEWSWEEK that aid officers were instructed not to explain the full cost of a Westwood degree nor the terms of the loans. “I don’t think [students] understood the interest rates, I don’t think they understood that it was not a federal loan, or they didn’t understand what they were signing,” says Morris, who is working with the plaintiffs’ lawyers in the class-action suit against Westwood. Often, she says, the loans were originated to close balances for students who had dropped out but had not paid for the time they spent at the school. She also adds that students discovered they had high-interest loans only when notified by a letter after leaving school.”

Check out the article and post your comments letting them know what you think about these loans, what you were told, and what it has meant to your life since leaving Westwood.  Your voices are being heard, so it’s important to keep speaking up where ever possible!

Best,

Jillian

For the second time in six months, Colorado-based Westwood College has been hit with a class action lawsuit.

The college has physical campuses in both Dallas and Fort Worth, but it’s their online offerings that have the school in hot water.

Jillian Estes is a Florida-based attorney whose firm filed the newest suit Monday.  “Our biggest concerns with Westwood college are the deceptive practices used to lure students into their school. The way they bring students in by promising them everything, but delivering them not nearly what they were promised.”

Full article at KTVT CBS11

As you can see, it’s been a very busy couple of weeks for our investigation into Westwood College.  Let me fill you in on what’s been going on.

On November 11, we submitted our first brief for the class action arbitration that was filed in May.  I’ll attach it to the Documents page for anyone who is interested in reading it.  This brief is for a phase called Clause Construction where the arbitrator determines whether the arbitration agreement permits us to proceed as a class action.  Westwood’s response is due on December 2.  We then have an opportunity to respond to anything they say, and that’s due by December 9.  Our arbitrator will then have as much time as he needs to make his decision, but the arbitrators tend to be pretty efficient.  I’ll post all of the briefs and the decision as soon as they are available.  Remember, this is your case, so it’s always a good idea to check out what both sides are saying.  If you have any questions about it, you can always send us an email with your questions.

On Monday, November 9th, the James Hoyer firm filed a second class action against Westwood College on behalf of Westwood College Online students living in Texas.  Westwood has been operating Westwood College Online without a certificate of approval that is needed to operate a distance learning program in the state of Texas.  The suit was filed in Travis County, TX and was covered by TV stations KHOU  in Houston and KTVT in Dallas.  So far, Westwood has said: (1) the law is antiquated – even though it was modified in 2005, (2) they didn’t know they were supposed to be registered – even though their website said they weren’t allowed to operate in Texas and they did anyway, and (3) the law doesn’t apply to them because they have a ground campus in Texas – even though the online school is not owned or operated by any of the Texas schools and the law requires each campus or program to be registered.

You can see the letter that the Texas Workforce Commission sent to Westwood College advising them that they are operating illegally in the state on the documents page.  Westwood has been granted an extension until November 28 to respond to the letter, and their deadline to file a response to our suit is December 7.

Please see the FAQ page to understand if you are included in either or both of the proposed classes for the two lawsuits that have been filed.  If you still have questions after checking the page, email us with your specific questions, and we’ll return your email as soon as possible.

While we continue working every single day on your cases, please continue sending in your stories and information, as they are making a huge difference!  We’ve already heard from more than 500 students through our website and Facebook, and each story is so important.  Former employees have also continued to come forward and confirm everything students are saying and to provide invaluable evidence and insight.  You are your own best advocate, and telling your story is the first step to holding Westwood accountable for what they have done to your lives.

Westwood has also set up a site now for them to gather student stories.  They want to hear good things so they can try to convince more students to ignore all the negative publicity, but it’s very important for you to tell your stories too! By sharing your story there, you’ll be able to see whether Westwood is posting truthful responses, or only picking out the good stories to continue using deceptive practices to lure in new students.  If you want to tell Westwood and potential students what has happened to you, go to this site: http://www.westwood.edu/your-story/

As always, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, please email me.  It may take me a little while to get back to you because of how many emails I have coming in, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I possibly can.

Warm regards,

Jillian

Hey guys,

It seems like every few days there’s a new investigative exposé about something else at Westwood College. This time the spotlight is on Westwood College Online in Texas. The Texas Workforce Commission, a state government agency which oversees career schools,  recently informed Westwood College they are operating an online school program in violation of Texas state law. According to the law, students are entitled to a refund of their tuition, because the school was operating illegally.  KHOU reporter, Lee McGuire, examines this issue.

We’re on top of it. The James Hoyer Firm filed a class action suit on behalf of Westwood Online students in Texas to seek restitution for you. We’ll also be updating you on the status of that case as it moves forward.