For-profit Corinthian Colleges slapped with $30 million fine over false job numbers

Corinthian Colleges Inc. has been hit with a $30 million fine by the U.S. Department of Education, which says that the for-profit college operator has been falsifying job placement rates to students in its Heald College system.

Heald College has campuses in California, Hawaii, and Oregon, and the Department of Education found 947 cases of false placement rates, including some instances where Heald College paid companies to create temporary jobs for graduates so they could be counted as placements, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some of those jobs, the Department of Education says, lasted only two days. U.S. Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell said in a statement that Corinthian "violated students' and taxpayers' trust," and did not provide "clear and accurate information to help students choose which college to attend."

Corinthian was once one of the largest for-profit operators in the United States, but last June, the Department of Education announced it would restrict federal aid to the company because of concerns that they were not using accurate job placement data. Corinthian agreed to sell off most of its schools, and a majority sold to a nonprofit student loan servicer last November. Corinthian still owns some schools, like Heald, but the Department of Education said that Heald College can no longer enroll students, and must help current students either finish their education or complete it at a different college.

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