Education Fraud

Another area where fraud is often committed against the government is through federal education grant.  A recent report issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office in August 2011 found that several for-profit colleges have encouraged fraudulent practices and lied to prospective students to avail of federal education grants.  According to the report, school personnel encouraged students to falsify financial aid forms and misled them about costs.  The report says the colleges falsified information about accreditation and engaged in deceptive and questionable marketing practices.  The report also suggested that 90% of revenues of the schools investigated were derived from federal funding.

Currently, Kaplan University is being sued by three former employees who have accused the school in federal court of obtaining federal student-aid funding under false pretenses.  The government has not intervened in the case but has supported the claimants through a court filing opposing the dismissal of the suit.  The University of Phoenix is also facing a similar whistleblower suit filed in 2005.

On November 17, 2010, the government recovered more than $57 million from four student aid lenders (Nelnet Inc. and Nelnet Educational Loan Funding, Inc.; Southwest Student Services Corp.; Brazos Higher Education Service Corp.; Panhandle Plains Higher Education Authority and Panhandle Plains Management and Servicing Corp.) for violating the FCA by improperly inflating their entitlement to certain interest rate subsidies from the U.S. Department of Education. 

If you are a corporate insider, an analyst, accountant; or if you are a former employee or a third party with specific information related to the above-mentioned wrongdoings or similar fraud, contact us and we will analyze your case and provide step-by-step assistance with filing a whistleblower claim to stop the fraud.

Learn more on how to file a whistleblower suit.

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