University of Scams: Read This Before Enrolling

Did you know that it's legal for the for-profit colleges smeared all over America's landscape and abroad to make up to 90% of their revenue from federal student aid? Moreover, are you aware that 350,000 University of Phoenix students were responsible for repaying $5 billion in outstanding student loans last year? Only 44% of those students are able to pay off those loans in full!

I am here to warn you-don't forgo the traditional community colleges and 4-year universities hoping for a fast degree at a for-profit college. The following are some examples of the worst culprits of fraud in higher learning scams :

* The University of Phoenix

* Sanford Brown

* DeVry University

* ITT Technical University

The slogans they prophesize everywhere-bulletin boards, commercials, sides of buses, etc. is simple: "because you can't get the jobs of tomorrow until you get the skills today".

Here are the facts :

* Last year, the enrollment in these for-profit colleges soared from 365,000 to 1.8 million

* The Department of Education shelled out $20 billion in federal loans to these unsuspecting students

* Targeted victims are carefully picked and executed: African Americans, minorities, and severely impoverished

* Students are coerced into fraudulently submitting inaccurate information on loan applications

* Applicants and interested students may get up to 180 calls a month, according to recent investigations-even up to 11 pm at night

There were 15 for-profit colleges in six states and in Washington, D.C that were investigated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently. It was determined that potential salaries after graduating were grossly misguided or quoted; fraudulent loan applications were aggressively encouraged; legal agreements were forced to be signed prior to the students getting to speak to a financial advisor; and the details about the college programs were greatly misinformed. For example, tuition, duration, and quality/quantity of the classes were falsely misrepresented by staff employed by these colleges.

To hear taped voicemail messages from college recruiters, click here.

To get a full breadth of the fraudulent and deviant scamming done by these for-profit colleges, take the tuition costs for their massage therapy certificate. The for-profit colleges' rate is $14,000. The cost by most community colleges is $520. The latter rate is comparable to non-profit private schools' tuition for the same degree as well.

To see the full report by the GAO, click here.

It is sad when a college education is beyond unattainable for some sects in society. An education shouldn't be a luxury. It shouldn't be taken for granted and or be used to prey on society's most vulnerable either. Please be wary before entering any agreement with a college of your choosing in the future.