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Corinthian Colleges graduates found jobs at high rates

From bullshitopedia
Corinthian Colleges graduates found jobs at high rates
FALSE
"Most graduates of Corinthian Colleges' career schools, including Everest, Heald and WyoTech, found jobs in their fields soon after graduating, as shown by the schools' published job placement rates."
Domain Education & Learning
Tactic Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion
Fraud or Scam
Era Current
First seen 2000s
Origin Advertising and disclosures by Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit education company that operated more than 100 campuses in the United States and Canada before collapsing in 2015
Last reviewed 2026-10-27
Further reading: books on Education & Learning

The claim that Corinthian Colleges graduates found jobs at high rates was used to recruit hundreds of thousands of students into Corinthian's for-profit colleges, which offered career programs in fields such as medical assisting, criminal justice and business. The company advertised high job placement rates. Investigations by state and federal authorities found that Corinthian had inflated those rates, counting jobs that lasted a day, jobs unrelated to students' fields, and temporary jobs that it paid employers to provide. Many students took on heavy federal student loan debt. Corinthian collapsed in 2015, and in 2022 the US Education Department canceled the federal student loans of all Corinthian borrowers, about $5.8 billion for more than half a million people.

The claim

Corinthian, one of the largest for-profit education companies in the United States, marketed its programs heavily on television and online, often to low-income and first-generation students. Its schools reported job placement rates that suggested a large majority of graduates found work in their fields.

What the evidence shows

  • California lawsuit. In 2013 California Attorney General Kamala Harris sued Corinthian, alleging false placement rates and misleading advertising. In 2016 a court entered a judgment of more than $1.1 billion against the company, which by then was bankrupt.
  • Federal action. In 2014 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Corinthian over a predatory lending scheme. In 2015 the Education Department fined Corinthian's Heald College $30 million after finding it had misrepresented job placement rates, including counting graduates in jobs unrelated to their studies.
  • Manufactured jobs. Investigators found that some schools paid employers to hire graduates temporarily so they could be counted as placed, and counted jobs that lasted only a short time.
  • Collapse. Corinthian sold or closed its campuses and filed for bankruptcy in May 2015, leaving many students without credentials.
  • Debt relief. After years of applications for "borrower defense" relief, in June 2022 the Education Department announced it would discharge all remaining federal student loans for people who attended Corinthian schools from 1995 to 2015, about $5.8 billion for some 560,000 borrowers.

Why it persists

Job placement rates are among the most important pieces of information prospective students use to choose career programs, and they are easy to manipulate through definitions. For-profit colleges relying heavily on federal student aid have faced recurring scrutiny over similar claims. The Corinthian case led to new federal rules on disclosure and accountability, which have been revised repeatedly by different administrations.

Lessons for readers

  • Ask how a school defines "placed": in what field, for how long, and at what pay.
  • Check independent data, such as government earnings and debt statistics, rather than school marketing.
  • Be cautious of schools that rely heavily on advertising and high-pressure recruitment.
  • Large debt for programs with weak outcomes can cause long-term harm.
  • Regulatory actions and lawsuits against a school are important warning signs.

See also

Sources

  • People of the State of California v. Heald College, LLC, et al., San Francisco Superior Court, judgment (March 2016).
  • US Department of Education, announcement of fine against Heald College (April 2015) and discharge of Corinthian borrowers' loans (June 1, 2022).
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, complaint against Corinthian Colleges (September 2014).
  • David Halperin, Stealing America's Future: How For-Profit Colleges Scam Taxpayers and Ruin Students' Lives (Republic Report, 2014).
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