The Chronicle: Online Scheme Highlights Fears About Distance-Education Fraud

Certainly an interesting read about the latest scam:

http://chronicle.com/article/Online-Scheme-Highlights-Fears/63517/?sid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

 

Intereting article and remarkably there are some pretty reasoned responses in the comments sections.

Thanks for posting.

Looks like distance education isnt the only place where financial aid scandals can happen. What do you know, it can happen to the best of schools and iIt comes in all forms.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18598574/

Student financial aid scandal grows
Education secretary grilled on why no crackdown on lenders occurred

On a Manhattan cruise ship, a major New York bank spent $74,000 wining and dining student-loan officials from more than 200 colleges.

Documents also show the bank, JPMorgan Chase, paid five college student-loan officers to work for the bank while they still held their jobs at the colleges.

It's all part of a growing scandal, in which lenders gave colleges and top officials money and perks — sometimes based on how many students signed up for their loans.

"Big banks, big lenders made big money at the expense of students who were trying to afford a college education," says New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

At New York's Columbia University, the head of financial aid was suspended after allegedly netting $100,000 on stock in a loan company recommended to students. **Cory Comment, come to Rio Salado where the students cheat -or- come to Columbia where the administrators cheat**

"Columbia's responsibility is to the students, getting them the lowest rate possible, not enriching their particular administration officials," says Raphael Graybill, a Columbia student.

In internal bank documents obtained by NBC News, students are referred to as "the target."

At some universities, when students looking for affordable loans called financial aid offices, they unknowingly spoke with people actually working for loan companies.

Today, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was grilled on why her department didn't crack down on lenders.

"At no time did anybody in the department think about picking up the phone and telling people, 'You've got to stop this,'" Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said during hearings.

"The hurdle is very high for me to establish a violation," Spellings said. "I must prove a quid pro quo."

Spellings says her department is not equipped to monitor loan activities at 6,000 colleges. JPMorgan Chase and other lenders have now agreed to stop these practices, and some schools have agreed to a new code of conduct.

 

Boy, read one article and start your google-fu going and it opens your eyes. I have read a number of interesting article on financial aid and how the lenders themselves are gaming the system. Wow, never knew it was such a racket.

Whistle-Blower on Student Aid Is Vindicated

I got the government to pay for my education, I owe nothing to nobody!!! Hahahaha,hehehehehe. Except for that blank check the the government is still holding in my name. I signed that one over for any amount up to and including my life.

 

Gyood gyawd, the scams people will get caught up in. Don't these "students" know that mama always said that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is?

 

Gyood gyawd, don't these financial aid officers know how to spell conflict of interest? Of course, it is no big goddamn surprise that some big goddamn financial corporation like Chase Manhattan Bank would do something corrupt like this.

 

Gyood gyawd, will the corruption never end? Good thing they finally took the whistle-blower seriously.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18598574/

This is one of my primary fights right now. Don't take me wrong, I am not a very liberal-minded person on many things; but the student loan industry (and the government's participation therein) has been given free reign to take America's non-priviledged (i.e. daddy can't pay for your education) youth and turn them into indentured servants. The recent changes made that allow for the IBR and ICR are great, but they don't go nearly far enough. There are those of us that are trying to work to put standard consumer protection measures back into this industry, but we have a long ways to go.

Regarding the story in the original post, that's just sick. Lock her up and throw away the key. Gives the rest of us a bad name.

That's just my 2c...