GCU has for many years operated their Online program in a way to break the law.
1) The U.S. Congress passed laws that prohibit anyone in the enrollment process from getting any type of bonus or commission to enroll a student.
Why?
Because students often use Student Loan / Grants, programs to go to school.
When they get money it can come in two forms.
A) Grants - (Free US Taxpayer money - that needs not be paid back)
B) Loans - These are usually low interest loans that can be subsidized (1/2 of the interest paid by Taxpayers, while you are in school). The Taxpayers are also a Co-Signer on these loans. If you don’t pay then the Taxpayers pay off the lending bank.
Then the Government comes after you for the rest of your life to collect.
What happens with schools like GCU is that they often will enroll many students in Online programs, that really do not have the stills to get a degree. Most of the people that they high-pressure into school are very low income. Many are unemployed, older or disabled. Many only have a GED or just a few credits from long ago. When I worked for them many of these prospects had no computer or computer skills. They had to have this in order to do the schoolwork. However they were signed up anyway and told that Grants and Loans would pay their way to prosperity.
"Enrollment Counselors" were paid a base pay (about 40K per year), however they had to hit their numbers. That meant they had to enroll a min of 12 people per month and had to make sure they really went to school as well. If you "Hit your numbers" then you got what amounted to a bonus (over a period of time – CASH). You got extra days off or got to attend vacation meetings at resorts.
This is all very illegal. Why? Because, when these students cannot do the work, they drop out. Then their loans come do. With out their education completed, they have no means to pay back loans. So the collection firms come in and they can't collect either. The Government is a co-signer on the loans and guarantees them. So the U.S. taxpayer gets the bill. That is why the law states that those in enrollment cannot have any incentives. GCU did not care and used fancy terms, like "annuities" to get around the real word, "commissions". Anytime someone can get more money in their pockets, it can create the atmosphere that promotes greed. That greed can lead to dishonesty and high pressure to enroll students. It starts at the top and is pushed all the way down.
The Department of Education has made it very clear that when there is an incentive to get people into school that will benefit the "enrollment counselor" than the best interest of the student and for that matter the Government, is in peril.
I heard and saw many, many times daily; "enrollment counselors" lie and mislead prospective students. They lied about what the degree would do for them. The embellished almost every aspect of going to GCU. When I complained that these "enrollment counselors" had unfair advantage, because they were rewarded for high enrollments. I was told, "well they are hitting their numbers". It did not matter that the majority of the people they signed up, never went to school or dropped out after just one semester. It did not matter that they would be burden with high debts, that they could not pay. GCU preyed on this people for their own gain.
GCU's enrollment department was high pressure and a direct carry over from the fraud that University of Phoenix as been caught at. It is really a shame, because most of the people that worked for them were good people that just needed a job and were afraid that they would loose their jobs if they spoke up. The ones that did got the axe. Managers were under great pressure as well. Everyone was under constant threats and performance reviews and written up.
U of P. had a major law suite against them for this same thing. Even their own Enrollment Counselors filed a law suite against them. By the way, they are not real enrollment counselors anyway. They want and higher sales people! They advertise for Sales People. They are not qualified to advise you with your schooling. Most of them are students themselves, who are offered free classes as part of their compensation to work for GCU. They want a degree and will do what it takes to sign you up, so they too can got to school. Do you really want someone to advise you on your education, who does not even have theirs?
