Attorney General helping students left high and dry by for-profit college

BOSTON — Local students say their college degrees are worthless, but, they're still stuck paying for them. Now, the Massachusetts Attorney General is taking steps to try get them some financial relief.

Diana Torres said her experience, at the now shuttered Everest Institute, was a lesson in broken promises.

"You just feel like a failure,” she told FOX25.

Torres graduated from Everest Institute with a certificate to be a medical assistant. She quickly got a job, but that was only temporary.

"It didn't last very long because they told me my skills weren't up to par,” said Torres.

That after a 9-month program at Everest Institute's Chelsea campus. Torres is now attending a 4-year nursing program, while still paying federal student loans for her Everest degree.

"Right now I still owe $10,000," Torres said. "It was frustrating because it was very expensive, giving up a job that I already had so I could go to school and then in the end not being to get a satisfying job.”

Former Everest Institute student, Charissa Mendez, bought in after seeing multiple promising commercials on TV.

"We promised jobs after this and I don't have a job,” said Mendez.

She’s is now attending Roxbury Community College, despite the time and money spent at Everest's Brighton campus, which is now being converted into condos.

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“They've left these students high and dry, the taxpayers high and dry,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Healey said that's why Massachusetts, and several other states, sued to shut down Everest Institute and parent company Corinthians College. The federal government closed the campuses nationwide in 2015 after an investigation revealed the school misled students on job placements and earnings potential.

"Instead, all they did was suck students in, suck their money through the form of federal loans and offer really nothing in terms of meaningful education,” Healey said.

So, Healey said her office is taking this fight a step further by hosting a series of events to walk students through the process of asking the U.S. Department of education to discharge their student loans.

"It affects their credit, it affects their employment opportunities, it affects their ability to get a loan for a car or for a house,” Healey said.

Healey says the college left students further behind than when they started.

These students are now hopeful for some relief as they move forward with a valuable lesson tucked under their belts.

"Before you do put your money into a school, go down there an actually get a feel of them. If not, you're going be wasting your money,” Mendez said.

The Attorney General said there might be students and graduates out there who don't realize they're eligible for help with their remaining loans. They estimate some 2,400 students may qualify.

In their final letter to students, parent company Corinthians Colleges, stood by the education provided to students. You can read that letter at

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There will be another borrower defense workshop for former Everest students on Sept. 27 at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College from 4 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

The Attorney General’s office has also set up an Everest Corinthian hotline (617) 963-2840 for more information.

Cox Media Group