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Capella University review: Capella doctoral degree programs, need a federal audit I was robbed 10

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I have over $250, 000 in student loans from attending Capella University. I have over 120 graduate credit that I completed toward my PhD. I am disabled, I had several financial difficulties and I was administratively withdrawn from Capella. I was re-admitted but not allowed to return due to outstanding fees due. After I paid the fees I was not granted re-admission. I completed all the course work (120 quarter credits) for my doctoral program and received my advanced graduate coursework completion certification. The only option that Capella offered me for receiving a master's degree, not a doctorate degree, after my denying my re-admission to the PhD program was that I could enroll in a master's degree program, complete 28 credits and re-attend all 3 residencies. At the end of the day I will owe nearly 300, 000, was not be awarded a PhD, and have to pay again for a masters degree at Capella. I wish to join anyone seeking to initiate a class action suit against Capella about their policies and practices. I have retained all records, evidence and correspondence. I feel as if I was robbed and totally violated. I am certain that I am not the only student in this predicament. Capella's degree programs need to be audited by the federal government.

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10 comments
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Timmi Kilgore
, US
Mar 08, 2023 10:33 pm EST

I am in the same situation and will be consulting a lawyer.

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 25, 2017 7:43 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

- - - - - class action lawsuit v. capella university - - - -

Request a ‘litigation information form’ & submit the completed 'form' to:
Attn: roberta yard, esq.
Reinhardt, wendorf & blanchfield
Attorneys at law
East 1250 first national bank bldg.
332 minnesota st.
St. paul, mn 55101
Tel: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
E-mail: r. yard@rwblawfirm.com

File your “complaint” with the department of justice at:
Https://www.justice.gov/crt...

File your “complaint” with the federal trade commission at:
Https://www.ftc.gov

File your “complaint” with the consumer financial protection bureau at:
Https://www.consumerfinance.gov

File your “complaint” with the u. s. government accountability office at:
Https://www.gao.gov/

Send your completed ‘complaint form’ to:
Minnesota office of higher education
Curriculum & student consumer research analyst;
Institutional licensing & registration
1450 energy park dr., suite 350

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 23, 2017 8:10 pm EDT
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Other facts about capella being a scam "school":

1. capella's instructor, diane stottlemyer, did buy degrees from a diploma mill called lacrosse university. diane stottlemyer lists her fake degrees in the book, debugging asp.net (http://safari.oreilly.com/0735711410/pref02). the government accounting office issued a report to congress about diploma mills, including the diploma mill that stottlemyer bought her degrees from:

Http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04771t.pdf

There's also a thread about stottlemyer on a degree board:

Http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?threadid=3571&highlight=stottlemyer

2. diane stottlemyer also still works for capella university; she's listed in their current catalog (http://www.capella.edu/catalog). why any university would keep an instructor who had bought fake degrees certainly raises a lot of questions about ethics.

3. npr didn't post an article about the plagiarism case; they just posted one about capella's sales tactics

Http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/06/12/capella_is_rising__and_profitable__star_in_online_learning

The article quotes one of capella's former salesmen as saying "but pressures to make a profit troubled one former capella employee. christopher tassava found the company pressured employees to keep the students paying. capella admits nearly everyone who applies. tassava, now working at carleton college, often worried capella's customers didn't fully understand what they were getting into financially.

"with capella the impetus is always to keep the student making progress, "tassava said."often there wasn't a lot of progress discernible. making progress often reduced to 'are you paying tuition or not? are you taking out student loans?'"

The pioneer press is the paper that posted the story about the student suing a capella university instructor, sharon bender. I would think that it is extremely rare for a student to actually sue an instructor. the fact that bender works for capella is also very disturbing.

4. an audit by the office of the inspector general is a very serious matter. another for-profit school, the university of phoenix, was recently fined $9 million dollars by the us department of education. capella could be in very serious trouble.

5. it's hard to tell how many lawsuits capella is involved in right now. however, there are several. while the sharon bender plagiarism case doesn't include capella (at least it doesn't appear that way), capella university must certainly be involved in that case as bender was one of their employees and was the instructor for the student suing her.

6. according the npr article, it looks like capella does accept just about everyone that applies.

7. it's hard to say what's going on with capella university's attempts to get accredited by the apa. they've been trying for a very long time and can't seem to get it.

There seems to be too many problems with ethics concerning for-profit capella university. they have at least one professor they've kept on despite that fact that she did buy degrees from a diploma mill, another one is being sued for plagiarizing a student's work, the nrp article notes the emphasis on bringing in money as the primary concern. I certainly wouldn't depend on what on of their salesmen tell you. I would consider going to a non-profit state school instead. that would also be a more cost effective way to get a reputable degree.
Source(s):http://safari.oreilly.com/0735711410/pref02

Http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04771t.pdf

Http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?threadid=3571&highlight=stottlemyer

Http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/06/12/capella_is_rising__and_profitable__star_in_online_learning

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 23, 2017 8:08 pm EDT
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Contact me at the following e-mail address to join our 75+ "learners" against this scam "school":

Johnleebass@gmail.com

Facts about capella university: capella university was (is) the subject of an education department audit, which revealed that the school overcharged lenders and this department by over a half million dollars. capella university spends an unusually high portion of revenue on marketing and a relatively small amount on instruction (for its exclusively online program). most instructors are part-time and accreditation could be an issue in the near future. capella university appears to maintain aggressive enrollment goals for the more than 300 recruiters it employs. many former students of capella university have been plagued with high debt to income ratios after taking out student loans from this for-profit university. capella university was recently questioned for having a high withdrawal rate amongst students in its programs and for spending an unusually high percentage of revenue on marketing. (source: www.processmystudentloans.com/capella)

Capella university information is cited below, where such websites state, “students don't mind a non-apa degree”, and also citing that capella university states, “graduates earn more income upon their graduating from its university” - which is false! additionally to its phd/psyd doctoral programs, capella university graduates cannot even practice clinical psychology, as its psychology doctoral programs are also not recognized by the apa in many, if any states – a requirement of course, necessary for a graduate to permit a graduate to earn state board-certification or ability to practice psychology – same issue as stated here within regarding argosy university (a lawsuit argosy university “lost”).

Argosy university was even known for its “bait & switch”, whereas all of its psychology students were transferred from its phd program, to its psyd program, with the university aware that it was not recognized by the american psychology association (apa), and argosy university even canceled its pursuit to become accredited for its psychology doctoral programs – with its students to enrolled in its programs. this university has been successfully sued for this situation. so was phoenix university! capella university is no different!

University of phoenix class action lawsuit [protected]: the university of phoenix is being sued and may be “shut down”, by court order! three former students who withdrew from the university filed the lawsuit out of arkansas, whereas the students claimed that the university of phoenix sought tuition payments directly from the students after they withdrew instead of deducting the payments directly from the students' loans. the students withdrew because the quality of education they received from the university of phoenix was extremely poor, the instructors would not help them, and some instructors went missing for a few days in the online classrooms – just like capella university!

Capealla university is currently under investigation by the state of minnesota attorney general’s office (and other states’ ag’s offices), the state of minnesota department of higher education, in addition to "our" group's legal pursuit for: 1.) conversion; 2.) breach of contract; 3.) interference with contractual relations; 4.) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and 5.) unjust enrichment.

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Stop the Funding
Ham Lake, US
Jun 11, 2017 6:20 am EDT
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Roberta Yard [protected] at rwblawfirm.com is looking into a class action suit for PHD LEARNERS.

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 23, 2017 8:14 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Send your completed ‘LITIGATION INFORMATION FORM’ (Form attached to this e-mail) to:

Reinhardt, Wendorf & Blanchfield
Attorneys at Law
E. 1250 First National Bank Bldg.
332 Minnesota St.
St. Paul, MN 55101
ATTN: Roberta Yard, Esq.
TEL: [protected]
FAX: [protected]
www.rwblawfirm.com
r.yard@rwblawfirm.com

FILE / SEND your completed ‘COMPLAINT FORM’ (Form attached to this e-mail) to:

Minnesota Office of Higher Education
Curriculum & Student Consumer Research Analyst;
Institutional Licensing & Registration
1450 Energy Park Dr., Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55108
TEL: [protected]
ohe.state.mn.us

FILE your “COMPLAINT” (Under “Consumer Complaints” Section) to:

Office of the Attorney General – State of Minnesota
www.ag.state.mn.us/

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 24, 2017 1:23 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Capella Sanctioned by the Government

According to the GAO report, Capella had a high withdrawal rate among students in bachelor’s degree programs, and spent an usually high percentage of its revenue on marketing.

In March 2008, Capella was also the subject of an Education Department audit, which revealed that the school overcharged lenders and this department by over a half million dollars. The inspector general’s audit revealed mistakes in calculation of student eligibility for federal loans, as well as failure to return funds granted on behalf of students who withdrew from their courses.

SEE ABOVE AS CITED AT:
http://www.collegeaffordabilityguide.org/online-colleges-sanctioned-by-government-organizations/

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Rdsmith913
Durham, US
Aug 25, 2017 6:54 pm EDT

Thank you for this information! I saw that there is information regarding loan forgiveness for Capella Student Loans but they all seem to be scams.

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Capella_Staff
, US
May 19, 2017 4:53 pm EDT

Deborah, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns. Please send us an email with your name and contact information to learnersupport@capella.edu and we will have a team member reach out to you.

John Bass
John Bass
Los Angeles, US
Aug 23, 2017 8:13 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Classic capella response, or any other crooked/scam/for-profit [crap] "school". warning! stay away from capella - and - any other [for-profit] "school"!

Must watch — > pbs documentary about these "scam" [so called] "schools:

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekfd_svtrs