FRANKFORT. Ky. — Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a for-profit college with campuses in the state’s two largest cities, claiming the school exaggerated job placement numbers to students.
Conway accused Spencerian College of violating the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act by making unfair, false and deceptive statements in its publications and website regarding the hiring rates of its students in their chosen professions. Spencerian operates campuses in Lexington and Louisville.
In some cases, Spencerian’s advertised job placement rates were 30 percent or 40 percent higher than the rates reported to its accreditor, Conway said.
And the school falsely claimed to have 100 percent placement rates within some programs, he said.
“I believe Spencerian College was more concerned about signing students up for classes and getting its hands on student loan money than educating students and placing them in jobs,’ Conway said. “The bottom line is they preyed on people who were trying to build better lives for their families in these tough economic times.”
Spencerian is owned by Sullivan University System Inc. Sullivan says on its website that it is Kentucky’s largest private college or university.
Messages left for Spencerian and Sullivan University officials were not immediately returned.
