The Art Institutes (EDMC ) ARE scamming Students & Parents

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Education Management Corporation (EDMC), who operate the chain of Art Institutes, for $11 BILLION! So what about the parents and the 151,000+ students who attended during the years 2003 to 2011, who were innocent of the crimes committed? Would paying back the student loans make them accessories to the fraud? Making these parents and students pay monies that were intended for education, but were used for salaries and bonuses for executives in the company, is NOT in line with our Constitution. Consider THIS: Then-President (and now CEO) Edward West received $1,551,802 in compensation for 2009, $5,486,905 in compensation for 2010, and $6,355,982 in compensation for 2011. Then-CEO (and now Chairman) Todd Nelson received $1,812,996 in compensation for 2009, $3,804,121 in compensation for 2010, and $13 million in compensation for 2011. The year 2006 saw the takeover of EDMC by Goldman Sachs and its private equity partners. Source: Huffington Post article below.
I enrolled in the Art Institute of Ohio - Cincinnati, sister college to the Art Institute of Chicago-Illinois, back in 2010 and wasn't able to graduated with a Bachelor in Cinematography. I, like many others, had been lured in by their claims of high employment ratings and being the first, therefore the best, school for Cinematography, and also making a claim of having the largest green screen room in the Midwest. This is far from the truth as many of the courses had only scratched the surface when it came to cinematography and or studio production and failed to provide the tools needed for the professional field, such as having enough equipment for multiple shoots. If there were multiple shoots on a desired day, there wouldn't be enough for different projects. I endured the same situation as Matt Bors in the Huffington Post article saying, "that many of the students in his classes had no talents to speak of, and it was clear that they would not be able to get jobs as artists or designers." This created an atmosphere not of creativity, but of confusion, discouragement, discontentment and low spirits. As they say, "If I only knew then what I know now" I never would have signed up my parents or myself for a $50,000 debt for a lack of education, only to find out that my enrollment directly contributed to the fraud. $11 BILLION seems quite unfathomable to students and parents now burdened by sums that are miniscule in comparison.
I have paid money directly from my own pocket, even having financial aid advisers grab me out of classes as if asked to go to the principal's office to pay for this week's courses, contributing to this company's fraudulent action, and I refuse to pay a cent more, or let disciplinary action be taken on myself or my parents. Also, I worked with Career Services to assist with payments, so imagine having to manage coursework, homework, maintaining a part time job off campus, on-site shoots in various locations around Ohio and also work study, and then having watched the "WELCOME TO THE COMPANY" intro video seeing for a brief moment what this company actually does and how they manipulate countless people. There were also advisers who gave me a small insight about the SEQ FUND, which was a student need's basis fund for students who financially couldn't pay for school to tap into that pool of funding. So, if no student asked about that fund, the money from that fund is dispersed among the faculty and staff, avoiding its true intent of helping students pay for schooling. I was also asked to drop from a Bachelor degree to an Associate's to help with payments. I REFUSED, STATING "WHY WOULD I WANT TO CUT MY EDUCATION SHORT?"
Also, having lost a family member just as my 2011 course year was beginning, AI offers counseling for students, which was a hotline that only prompts you to press 1 if you're thinking about suicide, which was the last thing I wanted to hear. Also, I have spoken with Bonnie Byrns, a loving heart, but she told me that there wasn't anything she could do to help my situation. I was later told if I wasn't able to find a co-signer, then I would be forced to leave the school on the grounds of non-payment. I was also forced to move out of campus housing due to non-payment and had to live in a camping tent for 4 months trying to reestablish my own place to live. It was a challenge, but I kept my attitude on life in a positive light.
The loan companies are threatening wage garnishments. How is this possible when they are accomplices to a HUGE fraud scandal? This scandal has been recognized by the Supreme Court, who then took action against EDMC. Loan agency Sallie Mae, now Navient, was hand-in-hand with EDMC, handing out loans to anyone who asked. So what happened to the $11 BILLION? While a civil court case could prove punitive damages to the ones affected, the least I am asking for is the debt to be lifted for all those in attendance at the Art Institutes from 2003 to 2011. View these articles on the EDMC money scandal, read the comments people have made on these articles, sign the petition, and help out those who have been conned into this scheme.

http://www.pdnonline.com/news/The-Art-Institutes--3531.shtml http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/edmc-professors-and-stude_b_1909449.html http://petapixel.com/2011/09/02/us-gov-sues-the-art-institutes-for-11-billion-fraud/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/education/09forprofit.html?_r=0 http://www.studentsreview.com/specific_detail.php3?uid=3147

Quote from Huffington Post article: "Senator Tom Harkin's Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee calculates that 77.4 percent of EDMC's 2010 revenue came from U.S. Department of Education student financial aid." In 2012, an online petition was started by Vaughn Reynolds at Change.org. He sought to unite Art Institutes students at various campuses in opposition of the teacher layoffs,...