Consumer complaint received 2024-10-08
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Problem with forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge
Company: Education Principle Foundation (GA)

Argosy University used deceitful tactics to get me to attend their clinical psychology program. This included lying about the cost; told $ XXXX not the {$280000.00} that I owe, and repayment would be like a car payment. The accruing interest on the loans are more than what I could afford, so I will never get ahead. They told me that the education they provided would be sought after, which it was not. I was told that if I did not hurry up and sign up to start, that at my age, which was XXXX at the time, I would not be able to pass the admissions tests that would be required in the fall. The entire five years I was there, the admissions criteria did not change, despite what I had been told. They asked me to lie to the APA when they were going through accreditation and when I said I couldn't lie, I was banned from campus during the APA visit. I am now stuck in a job where I am seeking XXXX, but this job is dangerous and I have been assaulted a few times. I also fear that the XXXX program will experience problems, such as the current delay/forbearance that is forcing me to work longer in my current field. If I had been provided with the truth from XXXX, I would not have chosen this school. By the time I realized I was lied to, I was already in so much debt that I had to stay in school and complete the program if I had any hope of paying back the loans, but now, there is no chance. The interest is overwhelming. 

Another lie told to me was that I could move to any of the other campuses. My husband was planning a job transfer/promotion, and XXXX 's promise of moving from one campus to the other was beneficial to our family ; however, this was not true. After I was enrolled and we are going to seek to move to another location for my husband 's job, I was told that if I moved, that I would have to start over, that only three of my classes could be transferred. My husband had to delay promotion until I finished my degree. 

In addition to the financial burden they placed on me and my family, the Dean of the program would not let me take off a couple of days to have XXXX to remove a loose screw from my leg that was causing me to be in a wheelchair. He said that if I took off even one day, he would drop me from the program, despite my high GPA and near perfect attendance nearly 3 years into my program. I had to have the hardware removed under only local anesthesia, which was unheard of, but my doctor didn't want me to lose out on school or continue to be in a wheelchair. The experience was awful, as was most of what I experienced at that school. 

On XX/XX/year> the Argosy University borrowers sent the Department of Education the XXXX XXXX white paper, XXXX Lies : How Education Management Corporation and Dream Center Foundation Defrauded a Generation of Students and the Federal Government that detailed copious evidence collected by XXXX borrowers themselves. The evidence comes from lawsuits, settlements, congressional testimony, and federal investigations. Further, our letter to the Secretary of Education cosigned by nine organizations including the American Psychological AssociatiXXXX, Project on Predatory Lending, Student Borrower Protection Center, Debt Collective, and 1,035 XXXX students, faculty and staff collectively recommends the broad cancellation of all Argosy University loans. 

I am filing a complaint for the Department of Education to take notice that the borrowers deserve to be made whole from a governmental system of oversight that has failed them.