DeVry agrees to pay $100M to settle suits

DeVry University and its parent company, DeVry Education Group Inc., have agreed to pay $100 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that the for-profit college misled potential students with ads about its post-graduation success rates.

As part of the settlement, DeVry will pay $50.6 million in debt relief, which includes $30.4 million to cover the total amount owed on all private, unpaid student loans issued to undergraduates by DeVry between September 2008 and September 2015, and $20.3 million to cover other student debt obligations.

The college will also pay $49.4 million in cash to be distributed to qualifying students “who were harmed by the deceptive ads,” according to a statement from the FTC.

Affected students will be contacted by the FTC or DeVry, and loan or debt forgiveness will occur automatically, the FTC said.

The college will also release transcripts and diplomas that were previously withheld because of outstanding debt. The settlement stems from a complaint lodged in January by the FTC, alleging that DeVry misled prospective students with advertisements claiming that 90 percent of its graduates actively looking for employment found a job in their field within six months of graduation.

When calculating that percentage, DeVry counted students it shouldn’t have and excluded others who fit the criteria, according to the initial FTC complaint.