The defendants did not acknowledge to students that IIA lost accreditation for a full six months and only did so after a June 19 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the deception. The annual cost of attendance at the Chicago and Schaumburg campuses was approximately $30,000. Instead, it celebrated the change in ownership, telling students it was “very exciting news.” In February and April, the schools posted language in their online course catalogs, stating that “ We remain accredited as a candidate school seeking accreditation under new ownership and our new non-profit status.” This was false and remained uncorrected, despite HLC’s clear instruction.įor months after losing its accredited status, the schools continued to recruit new students and to accept tuition from its existing student body without disclosing the loss of accreditation. and may not be accepted in transfer to other colleges and universities or recognized by prospective employers.” IIA did not do that. HLC explicitly instructed the Illinois Institute of Art to tell students that their “courses or degrees are not accredited. Accreditation is the primary way that students, employers, and the public can have confidence in a college or university and is critical to students’ opportunity to transfer credits to another school or secure employment. IIA’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), informed the school that it had lost its accreditation as of that date. The sale of the IIA campuses was completed on January 20, 2018. In 2017, the Dream Center Foundation announced it was purchasing the Illinois Institute of Art and other schools from the for-profit Education Management Corporation (EDMC) for $60 million. The lawsuit filed by NSLDN and Edelman Combs is on behalf of four named students and seeks class certification so that all students harmed by the school’s deception can be made whole. “The schools’ lies and deception, when they knew full well they had lost their accreditation, is predatory behavior that should appall anyone who cares about the integrity of the educational system.” "What Dream Center and the Illinois Institute of Art did to its students-withholding information vital to our education-is immoral, unethical, and indecent,” said Jessica Muscari, one of the named students in the case. Students make real sacrifices to seek higher education and they deserve to be treated honestly by the schools in which they place their trust.” “We are seeking some measure of justice for these students, whose lives have been disrupted and plans thrown into disarray. “By hiding the loss of accreditation, the Dream Center showed a callous disregard for the truth and for its own students,” said NSLDN President Aaron Ament. The lawsuit also names, among others, Dream Center Educational Holdings and the Dream Center Foundation, corporate entities that own and control the Illinois Institute of Art. The lawsuit accuses the school of hiding the fact that it had lost its accreditation for nearly half a year, while encouraging students to continue paying for courses and even graduate with unaccredited degrees. The National Student Legal Defense Network (NSLDN) and Edelman Combs Latturner & Goodwin, LLC this week filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of students who were misled by the Dream Center and the Illinois Institute of Art (IIA), a college with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Ill. Students Sue Dream Center & Illinois Institute of Art for Hiding Loss of Accreditation
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