ECBAWM Files Class Action Lawsuit Against New York For-Profit College

  • June 3, 2014

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, together with the New York Legal Assistance Group, filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on behalf of thousands of current and former students of ASA College, Inc., a privately owned, for-profit career college based in New York City. The complaint, filed against ASA and a number of its officers, alleges that ASA’s students have been victimized by a large-scale scheme to obtain millions of dollars of federal and state financial aid by misrepresenting ASA’s certificate and degree programs to prospective and enrolled students, to federal and state governmental agencies, and to accrediting agencies. ASA lures students with promises that its programs will provide training, externships, and job placement services, and that ASA graduates have a proven track record of obtaining jobs in their fields of study. None of this has proven true. More than half of ASA’s students drop out within two semesters, and among those who do finish, few find jobs in their fields of study. As a result of ASA’s fraud, ASA procures access to student loans to fund ASA’s exorbitant tuition, leaving students with debts they cannot repay. The plaintiff s are represented by ECBAWM attorneys Matthew D. Brinckerhoff and Hayley Horowitz, along with attorneys from NYLAG’s Special Litigation Unit.