Buyer beware or does the school owe them?

[LisaR]

http://news.yahoo.com/culinary-school-grads-claim-were-ripped-off-203350240.html

*snipped*
Food enthusiasts have been enrolling in culinary school in growing numbers, lured by dreams of working as gourmet chefs or opening their own restaurants.

For many graduates, however, those dreams have turned into financial nightmares, as they struggle to pay off hefty student loans and find work in a cutthroat industry known for its long hours and low pay.

Now, some former students are suing for-profit cooking schools to get their money back, saying they were misled by recruiters about the value of culinary education and their job prospects after graduation.

"They just oversold it and pushed it. They made misleading statements to lure you in," said Emily Journey, 26, a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against San Francisco's California Culinary Academy, part of Career Education Corp.'s chain of 16 Le Cordon Bleu cooking schools.

Journey, however, may get some of her money back. Under a pending $40 million settlement in state court, Career Education has agreed to offer rebates up to $20,000 to 8,500 students who attended the academy between 2003 and 2008.

I'm not sure exactly what the school was promising them but I feel it is up to the student to research the facts.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Why would you believe EVERYONE that graduates from a culinary school would be a top chef and/or own their own place? I just don't get how people could believe that. It's just ridiculous.

 

[Wall-E1]

Unless the school was guaranteeing employment/internship programs after graduation, I don't think the school owes them. I agree that the students should have done more research. If they had done research, they probably would have realized what a waste of time and money most of these "for profit" career institutes are.

 

[Grog]

I'm not sure exactly what the school was promising them but I feel it is up to the student to research the facts

I was thinking exactly this before I even finished reading the article.

One of our area High Schools has a former executive chef as a culinary teacher. He recently was featured in an article in a local paper. He tells all his students that if they really want to pursue their dream of being a chef to be prepared to start off making about $10 an hour, be prepared to kiss their weekends goodbye, and expect it to take about 10-15 years to make it to the top if they work hard enough. There are exceptions to the rule, but apparently this is the norm.

 

[luvmy3]

I think if they are suing, then their degrees should become null and void.


WTH has happened to personal responsibilty? If you choose to pursue schooling for a particular career, its up to you to research everything about that career. If you don't then thats on you, not the school you chose to go to.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

It is up to the student to research their career choice before going to school for it, and looking into the current job market in that field. In some states new graduate nurses are unable to find employment and claiming the same thing. No one gets handed a job these days, everyone has to beat the pavement and have an edge. No school or degree is a guarantee.

 

[Coconut36]

Why would you believe EVERYONE that graduates from a culinary school would be a top chef and/or own their own place? I just don't get how people could believe that. It's just ridiculous.

Agree. Also it is not the fault of the school if the students do not investigate what life as a chef is really like (meaning the long hours/demanding schedules and pay). People need to own their choices and the results/consequences of those choices.

My DH became a teacher..should he sue because of the low pay and demanding schedule? Obviously not..he knew what he was going into and even if he hadn't..that isn't the fault of the school.

 

[Planogirl]

I had trouble finding a job in my specialty after I graduated. It never occurred to me to sue my school.

 

[SoonerKate]

There have been a lot of problems with proprietary schools misleading students during recruitment & enrollment. Their recruiters have sales targets and have to meet them -- the GAO did an investigation a couple of years ago and found rampant fraud and misrepresentation of nearly everything -- graduation rates, job placement rates, tuition costs, even accreditation.

Students absolutely should do their own research, but at the same time, those shady practices have to end. There's a lot of salesmanship there (and most likely, pitches to counter any reservations a potential student might have), and if you're someone who's easily duped, you're in trouble.

If the schools were in fact being dishonest, then there might be grounds. If these people are just unhappy, then it's their fault.

 

[hambirg]

There have been a lot of problems with proprietary schools misleading students during recruitment & enrollment. Their recruiters have sales targets and have to meet them -- the GAO did an investigation a couple of years ago and found rampant fraud and misrepresentation of nearly everything -- graduation rates, job placement rates, tuition costs, even accreditation.

Students absolutely should do their own research, but at the same time, those shady practices have to end. There's a lot of salesmanship there (and most likely, pitches to counter any reservations a potential student might have), and if you're someone who's easily duped, you're in trouble.

If the schools were in fact being dishonest, then there might be grounds. If these people are just unhappy, then it's their fault.

I have to agree with this.

While I think it's prudent to investigate a school on your own. . .only takes 30 seconds to Google ":schoolsname: complaints," some of these "schools" are known for their hardball sales tactics and fraudulent promises.

I know the news here recently did an expose on Everest College. They told students that their degrees and credits would all be transferable to 4yr schools, and, come to find out, that's not the case at all.

 

[SandrA9810]

A lot of those 2 yr "technical" schools are a joke, I never believed them for one bit, but I remember when I was finishing high school (2002), there were several of those commercials about guaranteed job placement after finishing.

And so many people fall for the "almost the real position"... you know the medical assistant, but makes it seem like you can be a nurse. Or the head chef position, but really a line cook.

Now I have no problem with trade schools, that are more like apprenticeships in specific industries. There's actually quite a few people in steady work because they took that route rather than the 4 year route, graduating after the economy crash.

 

[java]

Sounds like someone that joins the military and then says
"hey all they mentioned was the travel, I didn't know there was going to be fighting."

Common sense has gone out the window. Unless the school said we Will place you after graduation, I don't see how they can have a case.

 

[cornflake]

This is why the better culinary schools require students to have spent decent amounts of time working in a restaurant before they'll consider accepting them, they want people who know what the business is and are still interested.

People are deluded. In my grad school, a ridiculous number of people all said they wanted a particular job as the goal of going. The job is held by six people. In the world. To get the job, you have to join the org. at the bottom and work your way up for a decade or so until you can even request it, after you kill off one of the six, heh. And yet... all these people wanted that job, in a way that's impossible, like they wanted to apply to the org. for THAT job. And no, nothing the school ever did even remotely implied this was possible - there was even a recruiter from the org. who'd come by every semester who was clear about that, and professors who'd worked there who would tell those people that wasn't how it worked. Still.

Deluded. It's their problem.

 

[Swan4Me]

Also the majority who attend those "for profit fake schools" attract the kids who are not very bright, the ones who couldnt even get into the State Community colleges and are swayed by the advertising.

One "For profit" school here states "Classes start every Monday"

Its being sued by former students who went to become anethesia techs-the school never got certified, even tho they continually promised the students that certification "was coming"-they all are in debt in the $20k range

 

[Jennasis]

If this is the case, the US Military should be quaking in their combat boots.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Then I want a refund for my useless BA in Psychology!!!

 

[Swan4Me]

I want a refund for my useless Fine Arts degree too

 

[bellarella]

If the schools are actually misrepresenting statistics, then, yes, I think the students have a case. Many schools are doing this now, which makes actually doing research difficult. It's one thing to have puffery in ads -- then, I say buyer beware. It is another to report that the average salary 1 year after graduation is $50,000 and not mention that only 10% of your graduates responded to the survey and half of those aren't actually working in the field of study. This sort of practice is rampant and does need to stop, IMHO.

I also think that these sort of programs should be ineligible for federal funding (student loans, etc.).

 

[powellrj]

When my oldest was a baby, I really, really wanted to go to culinary school. I looked into schools and everything. While none of the schools mentioned it, common sense told me that you would be working weekends, evenings and holidays because thats when restaurants are open and busy. You don't see lines outside of a resturant on a Monday afternoon a 4pm, its Saturday night at 8!

When talking to my friends kids who want to go to culinary school, I always say thats why I didn't go. They kind of blow me off, but then I hear they later dropped out after the first year because they got tired of working evenings and weekends. DUH, what did you think? You would be the only person to get a great job paying big money only working m-f, 9-5? A lady I know has a DS who is an chef and makes $8 an hour. I didn't want to tell her that Subway paid my HS aged DS more than that 3 years ago!

 

[RitaE]

I'd have to see what kind of promises the schools were making them. If the school was giving recruits literature that says something like

"93% of our graduates have found employment within 6 months of program completion at an average salary of $45,000 a year."

and that isn't true.

Then I think they can sue.

Kind of ironic but where I'm hearing about this sort of thing the most recently is Law School. The Law Schools are pumping out graduates like crazy and a large number of them are unable to currently find work as lawyers.