Settlement will reimburse 296 students

DES MOINES - Christina LeBlanc said she felt 'devastated and defeated” when her dream of becoming a teacher was disrupted.

LeBlanc of Camanche was one of hundreds of Iowans who enrolled in an online education program at Ashford University, only to find out later that after completing the program they would not be able to earn teacher certification in Iowa.

Le Blanc also is one of 296 Iowa students who will receive compensation for the education courses she took through Ashford as the result of a $7.25 million settlement reached last year between the state and Ashford's San Diego-based parent company, Bridgepoint Education Inc.

'We're delighted today to be able to provide some restitution for 296 students,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said Wednesday in a news conference.

Miller's office led the investigation. He said prospective Ashford education students were 'identified by deception and signed up by deception.”

Under the settlement agreement, Bridgeport was not required to admit any wrongdoing, and the company maintained its innocence in a statement issued Wednesday.

'While Bridgepoint Education and Ashford University are pleased that the settlement proceeds have been distributed to current and former students to assist them with their educational and professional goals, both institutions expressly deny wrongdoing of any kind,” an Ashford media statement said.

Miller said the state was able to contact about 600 of Ashford's 900 education students, and out of those 296 were in the elementary and secondary teacher program.

The state will use $5.25 million of the settlement to issue checks to those 296 students, refunding 97 percent of the costs of their education courses. The checks will range from $1,000 to $55,000, Miller said.

Another $1.74 million will be used to reimburse students who paid a 'technology fee” to the online school, which the state argued was excessive.

Miller said his office is encouraging students to use the refunds to help ease their student debt.

LeBlanc, who received a check Wednesday for $21,000, said she has about $50,000 in student debt and still more education to acquire because the Ashford program was not sufficient. She said she is looking for other programs in the Quad Cities.

'I'm going to keep pushing forward. It's an obstacle, and I'll jump over it,” LeBlanc said.

Bridgeport last week announced its plans to close the Ashford campus in Clinton. But 99 percent of Ashford's students take courses online, Miller said.

Miller said the school used aggressive tactics to recruit students and was not forthcoming about the fact students who completed the education program would not be eligible for teacher certification in Iowa.

The Iowa Board of Education Examiners does not certify Ashford graduates, in part because the program contains no student teaching, Miller said.

In its statement, Bridgeport denied using aggressive sales tactics and said students in the Ashford education program signed a written disclosure that the program would not immediately lead to licensure.