Ex-Students Sue For-Profit Everest College

Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009
Posted on Tue, Aug. 25, 2009

By GENE TRAINOR
gtrainor@star‑telegram.com

Saying they were cheated out of money and an education, 13 former students of Everest College have sued the for‑profit school, accusing it of misrepresenting job placement rates, the quality of education and the ability to transfer credits to four‑year nonprofit universities.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Dallas County district court, asks for unspecified damages against Everest; its parent company, Corinthian Colleges in Santa Ana, Calif.; and others.

The Everest students were enrolled in the criminal justice or the medical billing and coding programs. Everest College officials said those programs offered at its campuses in Arlington, Fort Worth and Dallas are specialized career offerings whose credits may not transfer. That information is disclosed to students repeatedly before they enroll, Dom Montalvo, regional vice president of operations, said in a statement.

He also said, "Everest provides extensive career placement assistance, but no school can guarantee employment."

Montalvo also said that Everest is accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Education Department and that its programs are approved and regulated by state agencies.

But the suit, filed by Dallas attorney Julie Johnson, alleges that many of the school's teachers were unqualified or uninterested in teaching and that turnover was high. At the Arlington campus, an instructor stopped attending a course and was never replaced, the suit says. When students complained in September that classes lacked rigor, they were told that they would have to take them again at their expense, according to the suit.

Former Everest students Sharhonda Harris, 31, of Arlington and Tonya Steed, 37, of Grand Prairie are typical of the students enrolled at Everest, Johnson said.

"They both fall into a very common demographic: young women with children, who are trying to do the right thing," Johnson said. "They're trying to raise their kids and provide a better life. They're blinded by this notion that you don't have to go to a four‑year college and take math and science and English. You come to us and then in eight months to a year . . . and you'll be on your way providing for your family."

The two said they attended Everest's medical billing and coding program at the Arlington campus beginning in April 2008. The eight‑month program cost them each $12,695, they said. To help cover expenses, they were given loans.

Steed said she quit her job as a store manager to devote time to school.

Now unemployed, Steed said she has had to apply for food stamps. She owes about $8,000 on student loans.

Harris said she was sold on Everest when an admission officer told her about the school's placement rate, with jobs paying $15 to $16 an hour, and credits transferrable to other schools. Students say they were told that job placement rates ranged from 90 to 99.9 percent.

But Harris said that even though she graduated with a perfect grade‑point average, she couldn't find a job in her desired field. She owes $7,500 on student loans. Officials at nonprofit colleges and universities have said they will not accept Everest credits.

Harris said she now works full time as a caregiver at a Mansfield retirement center.

"I want them to give us what they promised," Harris said.

Staff writer Darren Barbee contributed to this report.

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