Lower Education: How A Disgraced College Chain Trapped Its Students In Poverty

Lower Education: How A Disgraced College Chain Trapped Its Students In Poverty
Everest Institute sign is seen in a office building in Silver Spring, Md., Tuesday, July 8, 2014. The dozen campuses that for-profit education company Corinthian Colleges Inc. is closing operate under the Everest name and are scattered in 11 different states, the company announced. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Everest Institute sign is seen in a office building in Silver Spring, Md., Tuesday, July 8, 2014. The dozen campuses that for-profit education company Corinthian Colleges Inc. is closing operate under the Everest name and are scattered in 11 different states, the company announced. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Not long ago, Amber Brown, a student at Everest University, saw an article on Facebook about one of the many lawsuits against her school. The story, she wrote to BuzzFeed News, “dumbfounded” her: It mentioned former students facing mountains of debt for their degrees, but that didn’t seem to apply to her. Brown believed that she was “on a 100% Pell Grant through the government” and didn’t owe a cent.

Everest even paid for her books and her laptop, she wrote, and sent her a stipend check every semester. “Will I have to pay this back or am I one of the few students being treated genuinely by Everest University?” she asked.

In reality, most of what Brown believed to be a Pell Grant was actually loans: A review of documents she provided showed she owes more than $26,000.

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