WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says it will fine Heald College $30 million, alleging the Corinthian Colleges subsidiary had engaged in egregious misconduct and misled students.
Corinthian, a massive for-profit educational institution, collapsed last summer amid a cash shortage and fraud allegations.
The department alleged that Heald, based in San Francisco, had shown a pattern of falsifying post-graduation employment data. In one instance, the department said, the company’s Honolulu campus declared that a graduate had found work in her chosen field of accounting — even though administrators knew she was working at Taco Bell.
Corinthian spokesman Joe Hixson called the allegations “highly questionable.”
The penalty may not be collected. Corinthian’s once billion-dollar stock is virtually worthless, and the company faces numerous legal claims.