College America Recruiting Under Fire, Heads To Court

DENVER (CBS4)- A court hearing is underway in which the Colorado Attorney General is asking a judge to stop certain recruiting practices of College America because of claims it's misleading students.

College America is a chain of career schools in Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The school has been accused of deceptive trade practices.

In court, the top leadership of College America is fighting back a request for a preliminary injunction to stop certain practices that the state claims involve false promises to students.

"We will not accept this unearned guilt, we won't accept this defamation. We are fighting back and we are very happy we have the opportunity in court to demonstrate that," said College America owner Carl Barney.

The State of Colorado maintains College America entices enrollment through false statements of what students may earn when they graduate.

Students who won arbitration cases told CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger that they were misled.

"They cheating a lot of people. They're taking a lot of people's money. And they're getting away with it," said one former College America student. "Somebody needs to stop them."

Not everyone shares the same distrust.

College America student Krystal Holliday wants to work in the medical field. She has praise for the program and the offers made.

"As soon as you graduate they'll put you in a placement program for you to find a job," said Holliday.

The state claims most students drop out, often get saddled with loans and work in jobs outside their field of study.

The CEO of College America takes issue with that claim.

"It's unfortunate that the Attorney General of Colorado is joining the bandwagon of others who are attacking other forms of higher education and we're here to defend ourselves and will do so aggressively," said College America CEO Eric S. Juhlin.