Everest College, the for-profit college with a history of controversy, closed its doors Feb. 19 following an announcement by the National Association of Career Colleges that the province was suspending the school’s license to operate.
The next day, the Canadian branch of the school declared bankruptcy.
All 14 Everest locations in Ontario have shut down, affecting its 2,450 students and 450 employees.
The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has collected data from most of its students and will try to assist former Everest students in completing their degrees at other institutions, according to its website.
Algonquin and Herzing College have also reached out to former Everest students in helping them finish their degrees.
The news came two weeks after Corinthian Colleges, Everest’s American parent company, was de-listed from the North American of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations stock exchange due to its inability to punctually file financial information.
Everest College and Corinthian Colleges have had a controversial history. The company has been accused of deceptive advertising through falsifying attendance, grades, and job placement rates in both Canada and the United States by some of its former students.
In September 2010, the college was successfully sued by a group of former graduates, alleging their degrees were useless and the school was involved in deceptive advertising practices.
Paul Hicks, who graduated from Everest with a degree in criminal justice in 2012, said “I chose Everest because it sounded like they had my best interests at heart.”
But Hicks became disillusioned about his Everest education and regrets getting the degree.
“They only wanted my money. I was only a loan number to them. The degree is basically useless,” he said.
Kanissa Patten, who also studied criminal justice at Everest, expressed similar concerns.
“The school should have been closed long ago,” she said.
A concern among Everest’s former students is how to repay their student debt.
“We are expected to pay back our debts due to signing a contract, but the media and government need to realize that Everest did not fulfill their side of the contract,” said Tasha Courtright, a member of the Corinthian 15, a group of former students protesting the school. “We signed up for hands-on learning, but I and many others received none.”
The group, which is based in the United States, is organizing a “debt strike” against the school by withholding payments to the school.
Courtright said Everest did not provide a standard quality of education.
“A teacher I had gave us all the answers to our homework before we turned it in, and even gave us the exact copies of midterms and finals with the answers,” she said. “The education was definitely substandard across the board.”
The Ontario New Democratic Party MPP Peggy Sattler expressed concerns over the school’s closure in an open letter to Ontario colleges and universities minister Reza Moridi.
“No student can afford to put their life on hold while the government tries to sort out a mess involving another private career college,” Sattler wrote. “Your Ministry was well aware of the challenges facing this for-profit company and the risks posed to students, yet the Liberal government failed to protect the interests of students.”
Courtright said the Corinthian 15 group wanted the Ontario and American governments to “discharge our loans and let us start over fresh, somewhere that will give us a real education.”
“They should not be above the law and should be held accountable wherever their campuses may be,” she said.
