CollegeAmerica

In 2012, the college announced its intent to transfer to non-profit status for Title IV financial aid purposes (not to be confused with their non-profit Internal Revenue Service status) through its affiliation with the CEHE.[5][6] However, a whistleblower suit was filed in Idaho against the CEHE collective of schools by two former recruiters alleging they were paid "bonuses, commissions, and other forms of incentive compensation in violation of the federal ban on such compensation."[7] In May 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice joined the suit, stating that from its point-of-view the CEHE "directly or indirectly encouraged its recruiters to enroll anyone who was willing to apply for federal funds regardless of the students’ likelihood of success or ability to benefit" from the associated schools' educational programs.[7] The Colorado Attorney General filed a similar lawsuit in December 2014, though it alleged "staff consistently misled and lied to students about the selectivity of the school, the transferability of credits, the jobs they could obtain, the salaries they could earn, and more," though CEHE denied the allegations as "full of distortions [and] half-truths."[6][8]

On August 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education rejected the college chain's attempt to make its schools non-profit for Title IV financial aid purposes, leaving the schools for-profit for Title IV.[1][9][10] In the Department of Education's statement, they said "non-profit institutions must be owned and operated by a non-profit where no part of the net earnings benefit any private shareholder or individual," and it had found, in its review, this was not the case.[9] The CEHE filed suit against the Department of Education on August 30, calling its decision "arbitrary and capricious and inconsistent with the treatment of similarly situated nonprofit schools."[1][11]