Article on Career Education Co.: "The School That Skipped Ethics Class"

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by qvatlanta, Jul 24, 2005.

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  1. qvatlanta

    qvatlanta New Member

    The NY Times business section had an interesting article today on Career Education Co (the owner of several for-profits including AIU and Colorado Tech).

    Gretchen Morgenson
    The School That Skipped Ethics Class

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/business/yourmoney/24gret.html

    Here's what CECO is in trouble for:
    A judgement is forthcoming, and apparently some students at their Brooks school may be due for a court-ordered refund!

    Personally, I think advertising for some schools has gotten out of hand, and there needs to be some more regulation (much as with prescription drug advertising). I'd support something like a regulation asking all schools that receive federal money -- for-profit and non-profit -- to make publicly and conspicuously available some simple raw data: 1) how many students used their career counseling service 2) how many attained jobs as a result 3) how many graduates agreed to have the results of their job searches anonymously recorded 4) their average, median and mode salary per field. This would make the market more open and increase competition. Higher education students, as consumers, really have very little access to standardized, reliable information when you compare them to drug or car or realty consumers.
     
  2. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Good post. I'm guessing that this sort of thing is more common than we know.
    Jack
     
  3. Rob L

    Rob L New Member

    I can't speak for the experience of California Bureau employee, but no one at AIU made any claims about my expected salary when I applied. The only thing the admissions rep told me was that I will have greater earning potential as a college graduate, which is generally true. In my case, my salary has increased from $36,950/yr to $54,780/yr. since graduating. So, I guess I could be a poster boy for one CEC's ad campaigns. :cool:
     
  4. Mr. Engineer

    Mr. Engineer member

    I didn't see where you were located Robb - only 54K a year? Wow - you must not live in the beautiful state of Cally. $54K would allow you to rent a 1 bd in Hayward.

    CEC bought the Culinary Academy in SF. It used to be world renowned - now it is merely a profit center for CEC and is no longer well respected in the culinary business. (my cousin went there -- said it was like day and night since CEC bought them)
     
  5. Rob L

    Rob L New Member

    Mr Engineer:

    To answer your question, I live in Southern New Jersey. Although it isn't quite as expensive as Silicon Valley, the housing market is quite high here. I wasn't trying to impress people by mentioning my salary. I was merely trying to illustrate that my salary increased significantly after graduating. Although you consider my salary to be low, my salary is not that bad if you take in account that I am only 28 years old. I also work for the State government. So, if you factor in benefits such as free medical coverage and all of the vacation and sick time, my salary is pretty good.

    I also want to point out that I am not trying to shill for AIU or deny the allegations against CEC. Although my experience was good, I don't know the current culture of either AIU or CEC. I just wanted to mention my personal experience.
     
  6. Mr. Engineer

    Mr. Engineer member

    Oh - I know what you were trying to illustrate. I was merely stating that it would be hard to live in the Silicon Valley at that salary. Of course a lot of people are doing just that. I work with a few people that make in the low $30's and they have to double and triple up their families in a 3 bd home in the bad part of San Jose just to have a place to live.

    I am lucky - I have a good job, good benefits -- for now. Just down the street, HP laid off 15K workers without a second thought. Of course, I have been laid off before and will get laid off again if I remain in the tech industry (a fact of life - there is NO loyalty in either direction).

    Sometimes it makes me want to go back into civil service - the DOC or CDOJ or some other tech job with the state. The pay is lower, but the benefits and retirement are far away better than anything the private sector provides (which is zero - most tech companies have minimal matching - usually <2% - for 401K - after that you are on your own).

    I will complete my MBA at CSU-DH in March. I don't think my salary will go up at all.

    28 huh? Good for you. -- it is always better to get the advanced degrees earlier in life. I am nearly 44 and feeling it!

    Walt
     
  7. DTechBA

    DTechBA New Member

    I work in the public sector....

    Usually, getting an advanced degree is good for a little extra kick on your annual evaluation. Maybe instead of getting a 3-4 % raise you get a 5-6%. Anyway, it is a good justification for asking for one. However, the year I finished my MBA the state was going broke and not only did I not get any raise I got a 4% pay cut. Haven't had one since either.

    Could have been worse, I could have gotten laid off but it still takes the wind out of finishing. Maybe when I get my DBA (If?) they will have a little extra cash lying around and I can beg a little for my efforts...
     
  8. qvatlanta

    qvatlanta New Member

    Update: CECO just happened to have their quarterly earnings release. They're still making a ton of money, but not enough.... their share price dropped by 6% after hours (ouch!). They made 51 cents per share profit for the quarter and estimated in the press release they would have made 52 cents without all the ethical problems.

    All sorts of things could be in that. Who knows, maybe they're making 5 cents per share in extra profit from ripping people off and paying 1 cent a share to put out the fires.

    http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh23600_2005-08-01_21-15-45_n01561808_newsml

    ITT Tech just went through a similar investigation; the SEC gave them a "pass" last week and their share price jumped.
     

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