SPRINGFIELD, Mo -- Higher education institutions like the University of Phoenix and Vatterott College are under intense scrutiny from the United States Senate over tuition costs, default rates, and deceptive practices.
Ozarks resident Lisa Lambert received a medical assistant degree from Vatterott College in 2009. "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have wasted my time there," she said.
She was left with a $26,000 bill. "You have to pay this amount of money for the next 10 years, and you aren't making enough money to cover the bills."
She is part of a growing population choosing for profit colleges like Vatterott for higher education, over the past decade enrollment is up 225%.
Increased popularity has led to increased scrutiny by the federal government.
A recently released report by the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee put 30 for-profit schools including Vatterott under the microscope. They discovered, among other things, they aren't cheap.
The average tuition for a for-profit school is about six times higher than a community college and twice as high as a 4-year public school.
The report points out the cost of a Certificate in Information Systems Security at Vatterott College is $24,500. A degree in Information Technology at Saint Louis Community College is $4,383. Vatterott spokesman Aaron Lacey says they simply don't have a choice.
"We are tuition driven," Lacey said. "We have no other source of revenue. So we have to put together tuition amounts that will cover the costs to us to put on our programs and manage all our services."
Higher tuitions lead to higher default rates says the report. When examining all 30 schools, the report states that one in four students who attends a for-profit school defaults on his or her federal student loans within 3 years of leaving school. The numbers for Vatterott specifically are close to 1 in 5. In Springfield, Lacey says the percentage is lower.
"Vatterott's numbers are higher. They're not astronomically higher," Lacey said.
OTC Chancellor Dr. Hal Higdon admits it's a problem many institutions are seeing. "We've had a lot of people defaulting on all loans -public, private, etc. As that default rate goes up, it hurts all of us," he said.
The report adds that schools like Vatterott use misleading recruitment practices to fill its classes. It's a claim that the school denies.
"At no point would we tolerate, much less encourage, unethical or unprofessional behavior," said Lacey.
Lacey says that all costs are clearly found on their website. Upon searching, KY3 found that to be correct. But former students like Lisa Lambert say they weren't told the whole story during the admission process.
"They put it out there like it is all straight forward, but come to find out later on things are not the same," Lambert said.
While Vatterott is accredited nationally, they are not accredited regionally. It's something Lisa said they failed to explain.
"None of my credits will transfer. Nothing I did there will transfer anywhere else to continue," said Lambert.
Just like when you are buying a house or signing up for a credit card, you have to read the fine print. Choosing your college should be no different.
"Education," explained Dr. Higdon, "people don't think of students as consumers, but they are. They need to be well informed about what they are getting, the value of the program."
"Definitely do your homework. Look into what you are getting in to. Look into all your options before you make a decision," said Lambert.
Vatterott also wanted to point out that a reason their tuition is so high is because they don't get federal, state, and local subsidies. Also, as a for-profit institution, they are not tax exempt. Any potential donors can't write off donations like a donor could donating to a school like OTC or Missouri State.
Read more on the Vatterott College report or the full Senate report.
